From my veins to the frontlines

Myroslava joins tens of thousands of Ukrainians to donate desperately needed blood for the frontlines. Unfortunately, there hasn't been a culture of such giving, and there are deep shortages.

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450 milliliters — about two cups of volume — could save your life.

Just an ordinary-sized glass.

Not water, soup, or alcohol, but the all-important red liquid in our bodies: blood.

It may seem like fiction at first, but while a person can live without food for weeks, and without water for no more than 3 days, a person will die in just a few minutes if they don’t have enough blood. 

That is why blood donor centers exist, to save lives.

A member of The Russian Volunteer Corps, the Russian anti-government group that is fighting on Ukraine's side, donates his blood for the Ukrainian army in a mobile blood donation vehicle on June 3, 2023 in downtown Kyiv, Ukraine. (Photo by Roman Pilipey/Getty Images.)

Under normal circumstances, donated blood is needed during surgeries, cancer treatments or in case of injuries, but in the Ukrainian reality of war, blood transfusion takes on a completely different and much deeper meaning.