SOPOT, Poland—Changing tactics in the war being waged against Ukraine by Russia have led to changes in the types of vehicles credit unions have been donating to the country.
As the CU Daily has been regularly reporting, the Via Stella Foundation–a joint U.S./Polish initiative to provide assistance to Ukrainians and Ukrainian credit unions during the war—has been purchasing and refurbishing ambulances, filling them with medical supplies and delivering them to cities in Ukraine, where ambulances have been critically short and are often targeted by the Russians.
Now, according to Rafal Matusiak, president & CEO of Poland’s National Association of Credit and Savings Unions (NACSCU) and a cofounder of Via Stella, the foundation continues to provide ambulances to communities in Ukraine, noting that previously the ambulances transported civilians who had stepped on mines. Today, most victims are civilians injured by missile or drone attacks, Matusiak said, adding, “Increasing Russian attacks against civilians are producing much higher numbers of casualties in 2026.”
Matusiak said the Zaporizhzhia region has one of the largest number of civilian casualties in Ukraine and is “subjected, at times, to hundreds of attacks a day: via drones, glide bombs, missiles and artillery. Smaller hunter drones target vehicles and people.”
The New Pattern
According to Matusiak, the Russians have engaged in a new pattern of successive attackes on targets.
“Shortly after an initial attack, after emergency services arrive, missiles or drones strike the same location again,” Matusiak said in his report. “Surrvivors and emergency responders are killed or injured. Because ambulances are targeted, sending an ambulance into the area can create a new risk of a repeated strike. The systems that communities set up to rescue injured people are themselves being attacked.
“This changes how rescue services operate and how Via Stella assists communities,” Matusiak added. “We provide armored cars to move the injured out of harm’s way. These are similar to those used to transport money. The objective is not to replace fully equipped ambulances. The armored vehicle’s critical function is to evacuate the injured person out of the strike area alive.
“An ambulance is designed primarily to treat patients by trained medical personnel during transportation,” Matusiak stated. “But those capabilities are at risk if the vehicle itself is unable to operate safely close to the strike zone. An armored car evacuates injured persons away from the immediate threat area. The patient is then transferred to a fully equipped ambulance which provides trauma care and transportation to a hospital.”
Two-Tier System
According to Matusiak, the result has been a two-tier emergency transportation system that protects the victim and also the rescuers and medical personnel.
“Via Stella is not simply providing more ambulances, but helping keep the entire rescue chain functioning under extraordinarily dangerous conditions,” Matusiak said. “In Zaporizhzhia, that means helping communities do something fundamental: Reach people in danger. Get them out. Get them to medical care. And help the rescuers survive to respond to the next emergency. The Via Stella Pathway to Safety approach is designed to help communities affected by the war sustain the capacity to protect and support their vulnerable people.”
Below, vehicles donated by credit unions to Ukraine appeared in a Facebook post by Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
