An ambulance run by Malta-based NGO MOAS was attacked in Ukraine on Tuesday by a Russian FPV drone, leaving the crew and patient narrowly escaping serious injury.
The ambulance was carrying out a medical evacuation of a critically injured Ukrainian solider in Eastern Ukraine to receive urgent care.
The ambulance was travelling on an open road, when the FPV drone detonated close to the vehicle. The explosion shattered the ambulance's windows, causing minor cuts from broken glass.
The crew, made up of a doctor, a paramedic and a driver, as well as the critically injured patient, were otherwise unharmed.
MOAS said the incident underlines the extreme risks faced by medical teams operating close to the frontline in Ukraine, where humanitarian and medical personnel continue to carry out life-saving work under constant threat.
"This was a terrifying incident involving a clearly humanitarian medical mission," MOAS founder Christopher Catrambone said.
"Our team was evacuating a critically injured Ukrainian soldier when a Russian FPV drone exploded in the immediate vicinity of the ambulance. We are deeply relieved that our crew and patient survived with only minor injuries, but this is another reminder of the daily danger faced by medics in Ukraine," he said.
MOAS has been operating in Ukraine for more than four years, providing critical medical evacuations for some of the most seriously wounded patients from the frontline and transporting them to hospitals via specially equipped ambulances designed to stabilise patients during long journeys.
The organisation has become a key part of frontline medical response efforts in Ukraine, working closely within Ukrainian healthcare structures to deliver urgent care in high-risk areas.
By the end of March, MOAS had helped evacuate and treat 84,700 Ukrainian soldiers, with zero recorded deaths among those it assisted.
The organisation frequently handles some of the most complex cases requiring urgent or critical care and, in many situations, is the only organisation able to take on such cases.
Each MOAS evacuation crew includes advanced medical personnel, with its ambulances often described as "ICUs on wheels" due to the level of care they can provide during transport.
This is not the first time MOAS personnel and assets have come under threat in eastern Ukraine.
In August 2024, one of the organisation's bases in the Donetsk region was hit by Russian weapons, damaging ambulances and destroying medical equipment and medicine.
19 medics and personnel were inside the building at the time and took shelter in the base's bomb shelter. The attack was condemned by Maltese political leaders.
Founded in Malta in 2014, MOAS first became known for its Mediterranean search-and-rescue missions and has since carried out humanitarian operations in some of the world's most challenging crisis zones. In Ukraine, its focus has been on providing urgent medical evacuation and critical care support for those injured in the war.
"Our medics continue to risk their lives to give critically injured people a fighting chance," Catrambone said.
"Today's attack has shaken us, but it has not weakened our resolve. MOAS will continue to stand with Ukraine and continue its mission to alleviate suffering wherever it can," he said.