Albuquerque to Kharkiv, Part 1: The Ambulance
The ambulance that Albuquerque Fire Rescue donated to the city of Kharkiv, which is currently undergoing repairs in the Ukrainian city. (Courtesy of Oleksandra Kirian, Kharkiv City Council)
KHARKIV, Ukraine— It's been three days since Yevhen Vasylenko has slept through the night, and a deep worry line has worn its way across his forehead.
A spokesperson for the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv's Emergency Situations Department, Vasylenko says missile and drone attacks have awakened him each night. Two nights earlier, Russia's biggest attack on the Ukrainian capital city of Kyiv to date had left at least 12 dead and 90 injured. Here, just 23 miles from the Russian border, the attacks are more intense and frequent. More than 12,000 of the city's buildings, 70% residential, have been destroyed since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
'The attacks right now are almost every night,' Vasylenko says through a translator, describing combined attacks of both drones and rockets. 'We are near the front line, so during all the years of the full-scale invasion we have had constant attacks.'
Standing outside one of the city's fire stations, Vasylenko takes a final drag on his cigarette before gesturing for us to step inside as an air raid siren whistles through the mid-afternoon air, indicating an incoming ballistic missile.
When those strikes come, Ukrainian first responders pull on their flak jackets and kevlar helmets, and head out to pull civilians from the rubble of buildings, extinguish fires and disarm mines. They do so aboard a fleet of emergency vehicles — including fire trucks donated from Germany; a specialized tow truck gifted by an American entrepreneur; and an ambulance sent from the City of Albuquerque.
In July 2023, Albuquerque formed a sister city relationship with the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, and soon began sending aid, including a decommissioned ambulance formerly used by Albuquerque's Station 8, located in the foothills near the intersection of Indian School and Tramway.
'From the beginning, we've been dedicated partners with Kharkiv — including the donation of an ambulance to support their emergency services — and we will continue doing everything we can to lend a hand to our friends overseas who need our help now more than ever,' Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller said in a statement.
The ambulance is a 2011 Ford F6G, a behemoth of a rescue vehicle. Albuquerque Fire Rescue Lt. Paramedic Brent Rohrig, of Station 8, recalls that the department purchased two such vehicles, which were specced out to be large enough for the tallest firefighter in the department, who stood over 7 feet tall. The department used the vehicles for a few years, but with only two in the fleet, many EMTs and paramedics didn't have an opportunity to learn on them. When the city purchased new ambulances in 2015, it moved the 2011 models to reserves.
'This ambulance has already been in active service with the Emergency Situations Department's Situation Center in Kharkiv City Council,' Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terehov said through a translator. 'It was used to respond to emergency calls, to reach sites of explosions and to provide help in the most difficult conditions. It's multifunctional, well-equipped and it truly saves lives.'
Albuquerque Fire Rescue has a legacy of donating emergency vehicles that are obsolete for the city's needs, but still in good enough shape to be useful elsewhere, says Public Information Officer Lt. Jason Fejer.
'We did nothing more than give it away,' he said of the ambulance donated to Kharkiv. In the past, Albuquerque has donated retired fire engines to Isleta Pueblo and the towns of Mesilla and Eagle's Nest.
Albuquerque first began its sister city relationship with the city of Kharkiv at the urging of Northern New Mexico's Sikh community. The religious community, which has roots in India but a large presence at the Hacienda de Guru Ram Das in Española, counted among the first to offer aid to Ukrainian cities impacted by the war. When Simran Singh, a member of Española's Sikh community and a kundalini yoga teacher, approached the Albuquerque City Council about forming a sister city partnership with Kharkiv, he said the answer was an immediate yes.
'It's such a beautiful testament to what this state stands for,' he said. 'The ambulance is one outcome of a total community-to-community aid initiative.'
Although he's grateful for all the support the United States has offered Ukraine, Kharkiv Mayor Terekhov says, 'direct city-to-city contacts are among the fastest and most effective forms of support today — especially during wartime, when action needs to be taken not in theory, but immediately.'
He added that the relationship 'provides not only vital resources but also a sense of solidarity — the knowledge that we are not alone,' noting that representatives from Albuquerque have visited 'Kharkiv despite the ongoing shelling — a truly courageous gesture.'
At the moment, the Albuquerque ambulance is undergoing repairs to replace a few worn out parts. 'A number of those parts are manufactured only in the United States, so we are waiting for them to arrive,' said Terekhov.
That's not unusual for donated emergency vehicles, says spokesman Vasylenko, who notes that fire engines from the US and Europe are generally designed to attach to fire hydrants, which Ukraine does not use. The style of ambulances used in the United States were not common in Ukraine either before donated vehicles began arriving.
As tensions continue to escalate in Ukraine — with Russia launching some of its most intense strikes on Ukrainian cities amid ongoing peace talks — the ambulance may be more needed than ever.
'Once repairs are complete, the ambulance will return to duty — helping people in need,' said Terekhov.
Liubov Sholudko and Tetiana Burianova contributed reporting and translation support.
This reporting was supported by the International Women's Media Foundation's Women on the Ground: Reporting from Ukraine's Unseen Frontlines Initiative in partnership with the Howard G. Buffett Foundation.
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