This Swiss invention revolutionizes humanitarian aid in Ukraine

The Swiss Mario Trutmann coordinates humanitarian aid in Ukraine. He knows both sides of the front. He tells how he experienced the start of the war, and what Switzerland invented for the bravest of the Ukrainian volunteers.

Stefan Bühler / CH Media

Mario Trutmann remembers the smallest details of the night of February 23 to 24, 2022. The night when Russia invaded Ukraine.

A city “completely ordinary”

News from the progress of the Russian troops paraded in the media and, soon, the rumble of the impacts north of the city was heard. It was “surreal”, a shock for him. Because, to date, kyiv, where Mario Trutmann lived, was “a very ordinary city”.

A city that the 43 -year -old Zurichois, who had learned Russian in high school, had discovered during private stays. So a student, he had traveled to Ukraine and kyiv. There were many friends and acquaintances. He felt there as at home.

There was certainly a conflict with Russia. He has been incubating since 2014 and the occupation of the eastern regions and the Crimean Peninsula. In the Ukrainian capital, many were nevertheless those who preferred not to think about it.

Mario Trutmann was not part of it. Because it was precisely the Russian war which justified his presence. This Swiss, large and in a deep voice, has been working since 2015 in Ukraine since 2015, sometimes for the UN, sometimes for Switzerland. But still in the name of humanitarian aid in favor of threatened and affected populations.

A stalin was bore from the checkpoint

Mario Trutmann knows both sides of the front. His first mission to Ukraine led him in 2015 to the Donetsk region, occupied by pro-Russian separatists. “By passing the border to the checkpoints, there were photos of Stalin,” he recalls.

A world where de facto local leaders do not necessarily respect international law.

Trips as risky as necessary

These trips to the east on behalf of UNOCHA, the agency that coordinates humanitarian affairs for the UN, proved to be delicate, but necessary despite everything, as it tells today:

“He who needs it must receive it as much as possible,” independently of his political position. Everywhere, the same necessities: drinking water, food, roof, medical care, school education for children.

The representatives of UNOCHA aroused a lot of distrust in the separatist regions. New local leaders suspected certain humanitarian spy organizations. Mario Trutmann repeatedly uses the word “frustrating” to evoke the working conditions of the time, and draws up a desperate observation:

A lot of scenarios, and yet

The latest visit to the Swiss in the Donetsk region dates back to 2021, the year when the new Russian foray started to loom. With a deployment of troops in the border area with Ukraine, “as if it were an exercise,” he recalls. “And maybe also to test the reaction of the West.” For employees of humanitarian organizations, the signal was clear:

A job that has continued to gain importance since. Mario Trutmann continues his story:

Among the scenarios envisaged, an escalation in the east of the country, perhaps also to the north from Belarus, “but this great attack to kyiv, no one had planned it”.

On February 24, 2022, the next morning the night he had spent with his shoes on the feet, the Zurichois first went to the UNOCHA office to “recover the talkies-talkies and bring the documents together”. Then, the UN staff and other humanitarian workers gathered in a hotel in the southwest of the city. On the roof, large letters “one” have been installed, to protect themselves from air attacks.

The start of operations

“This is where we organized first aid.” It was a question of taking care of millions of displaced people inside the country. With tents heated as shelters, huge popular soups at the station, care for the injured.

Shortly after, international organizations transferred their seats to Lviv, further west. After first chaotic days, help began to arrive from abroad. First of the frontal crossing points with Poland, Moldova and Romania, where refugee columns were formed. Mario Trutmann, whose main task was to coordinate hundreds of assistance offers, recognizes:

The situation has evolved over time. The Ukrainian army rejected the Russians and vast regions have been released. Humanitarian needs have not disappeared. More than a third of the population, or about 12.7 million people, depends on it. Since then, Mario Trutmann had started a new mission in kyiv, within the humanitarian team of the Swiss Embassy. So far, Switzerland has granted 690 million francs to development cooperation and peace promotion activities.

It’s not just destroyed infrastructure, damaged schools and hospitals, minefields to be released. The consequences are also social, as explained by the Zurich:

Their survivors need support, just like all the families who have lost someone. In this sense, the clarification of the disappearance notices helps to psychologically relieve families and allows them to access social benefits.

Insurance for volunteers

And then some developments make Mario Trutmann pronounce this surprising sentence:

Because collaboration with civil society and the authorities works well in comparison with other regions. And because the war in Ukraine advances humanitarian aid itself. Mario Trutmann participates in an innovative program. The latter includes a typically Swiss model: insurance.

This is intended for active volunteers on a band of hundreds of kilometers long and approximately 25 kilometers wide and located directly behind the front. “International organizations cannot send their employees to this area due to significant risks,” according to our interlocutor. It is therefore local Ukrainian organizations that provide the necessary for the last remaining civilians or who proceed to evacuations, often at the risk of their lives.

For this, they do not only need helmets, protective vests and secure ambulances provided by the West. They themselves need support in the event of an accident during their risky missions or if they are victims of acts of war. So far, no one paid for their care or to compensate their survivors. But recently, there has been, for the first time in the world in this form, life insurance and accidents for volunteers. It is initiated, funded and encouraged by Switzerland and its experts.

Switzerland innovates the whole branch

The Confederation collaborates for this purpose with two partners: the relief Coordination Center Ukrainien and the NGO International Nonviolet Peaceforce, whose headquarters are in Switzerland. Currently, 4,683 volunteers are assured. Until now, 42 cases of claims have been recorded, for which services with a total value of approximately 25,500 francs have been paid. Incidents ranged from fatal car accidents to serious injuries following drone fire during evacuations, including accidents in the kitchen.

The project is a main innovation of humanitarian aid in the country to date. Local volunteers are often the first on site and are the most effective, although they rarely have financial coverage. Mario Trutmann concludes:

(Translated from German by Valentine Zenker)