Today the Magistral Villa – one of the Sovereign Order of Malta’s government seats – hosted a significant event organized in collaboration with the Embassy of Ukraine to the Order of Malta. The conference, titled “The humanitarian crisis in Ukraine in times of war and the support of the Order of Malta,” brought together esteemed individuals and representatives dedicated to addressing the pressing humanitarian situation in Ukraine.

The conference opened with remarks from the Grand Chancellor of the Sovereign Order of Malta, Riccardo Paternò di Montecupo: “Every day, for more than thirty years, the staff and volunteers of the Order’s Relief Service in Ukraine have helped the population in need with dedication, professionalism and generosity. At present, they continue to assist the most vulnerable groups of society, especially the children, the elderly and the sick, who are those who suffer most under these tragic circumstances. I take this opportunity to publicly express the Order’s appreciation and gratitude for the incredible work that they carry out every day with bravery, risking their lives due to the targeting of healthcare facilities”.

For the occasion, the Prime Minister of Ukraine, Denys Shmyhal, conveyed a powerful message through a recorded video, emphasizing the gravity of the situation and thanking the Order of Malta for its relentless support to the Ukrainian population: “I am grateful for the systematic and organized assistance in the shortest possible time. This assistance has been provided to tens of thousands of Ukraine people by various agencies organized and operated by the Order. The systematic action has become the largest humanitarian operation of the Order since the second world war”.

Since the onset of the war in February 2022, the Order of Malta has been in the frontline providing humanitarian aid to the Ukrainian population and has reached out to around 4 million people. More than 10,000 tonnes of aid have been distributed in over 70 different locations; 300,000 people have been assisted at borders and over 60 shelters have been set up to accommodate the displaced. Specific programmes have been developed to offer psychological support to children and minors throughout the country, reaching 45,000 children. Additionally, in 2022 the Order opened a prosthetic clinic in Lviv to help victims of landmine explosions and has provided to date nearly 250 prosthetics.

Notable interventions were made by the Ambassador of Ukraine to the Order of Malta, Andrii Yurash, and the Ambassador of the Sovereign Order of Malta to Ukraine, Antonio Gazzanti Pugliese di Cotrone.

The conference focused on the action of the Ukrainian Relief Service of the Order, as Pavlo Titko, Chief of the Order’s Relief Service in the country, explained providing valuable insights into the ongoing projects. Other interventions included highlights on the mental health and psycho-social support projects run by the Order. Malteser International, the worldwide relief agency of the Order of Malta, also outlined its major interventions in the country.

The conference featured contributions from specialists on the phantom pain after amputations condition and on the support for children and internally displaced people. Testimonies of Ukrainian civilian victims, assisted by the Order of Malta, added a deeply personal dimension to the conference, offering a poignant reminder of the human impact of the crisis.

The event concluded with closing remarks from the Grand Hospitaller Fra’ Alessandro de Franciscis, who summed up the main characteristics and efforts of the unwavering commitment of the Sovereign Order of Malta to address the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine.

With over 60 million euros mobilised, the Order of Malta’s commitment in Ukraine is the largest since its intervention in World War II. The Order of Malta’s entities in Germany, Austria, Italy, France, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia have also been actively involved in refugee assistance projects.

Alongside this concrete humanitarian intervention, from the very beginning of the war, there has been an ongoing diplomatic effort with calls to reduce human suffering in various international fora where the Order of Malta participated, such as the Summit of the Future (September 2024), the United Nations Security Council (September 2023 and 2024) and the Munich Security Conference (February 2024).

An exhibition of Ukrainian artwork is displayed in the Magistral Villa’s gardens

On the occasion of the event, an exhibition organised by the Kozytsky Charity Foundation has been installed in the Magistral Villa. The exhibition features 19 paintings and drawings from Ukrainian artists from Lviv, and 11 oil on canvas artworks of an artist from near Donbass. On display also 8 mosaics and 2 stained window glasses of different artists from Mariupol. The mosaics are all reproductions as the originals have been destroyed in the ongoing war (in 2022).