As the number of wounded Ukrainians mounts, Doctors Without Borders struggles to fill medical gaps

Published April 11, 2022 at 11:40 AM CDT

MSF doctors Stig Walravens (2nd R), 33, and Yaroslav (L), 39, care for Oleh, 58, a patient on a medical evacuation train on its way to the western Ukrainian city of Lviv on April 10, 2022. - (Genya Savilov/AFP via Getty Images)

Seven weeks into the Russian invasion of Ukraine, casualties continue to rise. According to the Mayor of Mariupol, at least 5,000 people have died in that city alone — more than 200 of them children.

Late last week, a bomb blast at the Kramatorsk railway station killed dozens, most of them women and children trying to escape. Civilian massacres have been revealed in Bucha, Borodyanka and most recently, along a highway outside Kyiv. And then there are the wounded, suffering injuries most doctors there have never seen.

Among the groups stepping in to help treat the wounded is Médecins Sans Frontieres. Avril Benoît is the executive director of Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières in the United States. She joins host Anthony Brooks from Ukraine to describe the situation.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.