In its 12th year of operation, PDMSh has obtained a license to practice medicine. This marked the first major step in transforming a Volunteer Medical Formation (VMF) into Ukraine’s first (and possibly the world’s first) Private Military Medical Company (PMMC).
What is the difference between a VMF and a PMMC?
Roughly the same as the difference between a people’s militia and a professional army. All legendary volunteer battalions have followed a similar path: Azov, Khartiia, the 3rd Assault Brigade… The key distinction of a PMMC, however, lies in the fact that, without receiving state funding and without being a military formation, we have significantly greater autonomy, freedom of action, zero bureaucracy, and less dependence on decisions by authorities that are not always adequate.
“Once, Sean McFate, an American professor of strategy at the U.S. National Defense University and author of the bestseller The New Rules of War, said: ‘When you need something in war to be done with absolute certainty, you call the private sector.’ This fully applies to PDMSh — both as a legendary volunteer medical formation and as the prototype of Ukraine’s first (and possibly the world’s first) military medical company,”
PDMSh co-founder and Honorary President Hennadii Druzenko
We believe that 2026 will become the year of transformation of the legendary PDMSh “volunteer battalion” into the first professional military medical company. Thank you for believing in us and for your support. Thank you for being with us. Let’s stay in touch.