Actress Marija Linarte spends a month in Ukraine with combat medics, raises funds for medical vehicle

Latvian actress Marija Linarte spent a month in Ukraine, where she helped wounded soldiers alongside combat medics and learned tactical medicine. Since returning to Latvia, she has started a fundraising campaign to provide a new medical vehicle for the Ukrainian medics she now affectionately calls her four fathers, Latvian Television reported.

Linarte says she wanted not only to gain practical medical skills but also to offer soldiers human support. In her view, bandaging, inserting catheters, setting up drips and administering medication can be taught, but nobody teaches you to understand that the person in your hands is a human being.

Support beyond material aid

The actress stresses that Ukrainians need more than material assistance. It is equally important, she says, to make them feel they are not alone and that people in Latvia are thinking of them. She says she regards Ukrainians as her own people on the front line, and simply thanks them.

The time in Ukraine made Linarte appreciate even more that Latvia is a free country. According to her, Ukrainians often praised Latvians for their support and courage, saying Latvians are the smallest but help the most.

Donations for a new vehicle

After another Russian army strike, Linarte's four combat medics no longer have their own medical transport. The actress has therefore teamed up with the association "Tavi draugi" to collect donations to buy a new car and equip it with the necessary medical equipment.

Linarte says she knows well the people who will receive the vehicle and is ready to deliver it to Ukraine herself. She does not rule out going to Ukraine again and invites Latvian residents to join in buying and equipping the vehicle.