Four years of full-scale war have devastated Ukraine's rural health care system, leaving elderly villagers without basic medical care. In isolated communities near the front lines, clinics have been destroyed, pharmacies shuttered, and access to doctors severed by damaged infrastructure and fuel shortages. Nina Andriivna, 85, hasn't seen a doctor in years after a rocket explosion in her garden left her with severe injuries and anxiety.

As of last summer, Russian attacks had damaged over 2,400 health care facilities and destroyed more than 300, mostly in rural areas, according to Ukraine's Health Ministry. The World Health Organization reports that Russian strikes on health care infrastructure increased by nearly 20% last year. Winter conditions have worsened the crisis, with cardiovascular disease surging and 80% of Ukrainians unable to obtain needed medications. Many villages lack even basic services like electricity and running water.

International Rescue Committee mobile medical units now provide the only care for many isolated communities. Teams of doctors, nurses, and psychologists travel treacherous roads to reach villages like Nyzhnii Burluk, where residents wait in freezing temperatures for basic checkups. For people like Nelia Kravchenko, who lived just two miles from Russian lines, the war has meant years without medical care, surviving on homegrown vegetables while her village crumbles around her.