Despite the lack of a legal framework regulating the work of frontline volunteer medics, PDMSh has not only agreed upon memoranda/cooperation agreements with virtually all branches of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (ZSU) but also relies on a special-issue order from Ukraine's Ministry of Health to regulate its activities.
The Ukrainian volunteer movement is rooted in Article 65 of Ukraine's Constitution, stating that "The defence of the Fatherland, its independence and territorial integrity [...] is the duty of the citizens of Ukraine." The PDMSh is a volunteer self-assembled organisation that emerged in the first year of the russian-Ukrainian war —the fall of 2014. Such volunteer formations are mentioned in Article 6 of Ukraine's Law "On the Status of War Veterans, Guarantees of Their Social Protection." The process of involving volunteer medics in the PDMSh ranks is regulated by Ukraine's Ministry of Health Decree No. 814, dated April 27, 2018.
By the Resolution of General Valery Zaluzhny, Ukraine's Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, dated June 24, 2022, PDMSh was involved in the Defense Forces of Ukraine as a medical evacuation and medical assistance unit. However, unlike military units, PDMSh is involved in the Defense Forces on a contractual basis, meaning we cooperate with those units in the agreed-upon format. Essentially, PDMSh has become a private military-medical company with the asterisk that its services are paid for not by the government of Ukraine but by donors from all over the world.
PDMSh volunteers, by virtue of their work, first and foremost fulfil their constitutional duty to protect Ukraine's independence and territorial integrity. Unfortunately, the state currently does not recognise volunteers as veterans, nor does it provide any related benefits or social guarantees. Some medics have their volunteer rotation as secondment under Ukraine's Ministry of Health Decree No. 814, dated April 27, 2018. Some of the auxiliary personnel are registered as staff members of the NGO "Mykola Pyrogov FVMH Charity". The government has recognised the work of hundreds of our volunteers with orders, badges and other awards issued.