Key facts
- Prime Minister Serhii Koretskyi said the mechanism is expected to be operational by the end of 2026.
- The government approved rules for flights carrying patients, medical staff, donor organs and equipment between hospitals and abroad.
- Koretskyi said aircraft could cut the Kharkiv to Rzeszow journey from 15-16 hours to two to three hours.
- Health Minister Viktor Liashko said injured people and those who lost access to care due to destroyed medical infrastructure get priority.
Ukraine will resume medical evacuations using aircraft operated by the State Emergency Service, Prime Minister Serhii Koretskyi said on November 6, a step expected to cut travel times for patients. Since Russia's full-scale invasion, Ukraine's airspace and airports have been closed to civilian flights, and most passenger travel, including for medical care, has been by train and road.
The government approved regulations governing the flights, which will carry patients, medical personnel, donor organs and equipment between hospitals and take patients abroad for treatment, Koretskyi said. The Health Ministry's Center for Emergency Medical Care will coordinate the flights, while the State Emergency Service will provide aircraft, helicopters and crews.
Koretskyi said using aircraft could cut the journey from Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine to the Polish city of Rzeszow, about 100 kilometers (nearly 60 miles) from the Ukrainian-Polish border, from 15-16 hours to two to three hours.
The new system will also apply to the Medevac Ukraine program, which provides free medical treatment abroad for Ukrainians affected by the war. Health Minister Viktor Liashko said priority is given to people injured in hostilities and those who have lost access to medical care due to Russia's destruction of medical infrastructure.
"Importantly, aircraft will be able to cross the state border and deliver patients directly to an evacuation hub," Liashko said, adding that this matters for Ukrainians injured in the war and accepted for treatment by European countries under the program.
Ukrainian forces have also begun using aerial evacuation on the front line despite continued Russian attacks and surveillance by Russian drones. The military carried out its first such operation on October 19, evacuating a severely wounded soldier from the Kharkiv sector.