“Volunteers are the foundation of our future victory,” says Serhiy “Bormental” Borodavko

Serhiy Borodavko (pseudo “Bormental”) says that working at the Pirogov First Volunteer Mobile Hospital reminds him of an anthill where everyone performs their function.

Serhiy works as an orthopedic traumatologist at the First Children’s Hospital of Kyiv, one of Ukraine’s largest and oldest medical institutions for children. He says the war started for him in 2014, after the events on the Maidan, in which he actively participated.

At the time of the full-scale Russian invasion on February 24, 2022, he was on duty at the hospital, and as soon as the next day, he was building barricades and making Molotov cocktails with other Kyivans.

Later, “Bormental” joined the Territorial Defense Forces, traveled across Ukraine, and conducted training in tactical medicine for military and civilians. At the end of 2022, he went on his first mission with PFVMH.

“Volunteers are the unshakable foundation of our future victory,” Sergiy states. “For the country, this is a significant cause carried out by professionals who follow their calling without expecting anything in return.”

While saving Ukraine’s defenders, volunteer medics also put themselves at risk. Once, during surgery, a rocket hit the building, smashing the second and third floors but not exploding. “No one left their post. The surgeon, traumatologist, anesthesiologist, and nurses — everyone stayed at their posts. It’s impressive,” says Serhiy Borodavko.

He calls on all citizens of Ukraine to be as active as they were in the first months of the full-scale war. “I believe that if we all together make maximum efforts again, victory will come sooner.”