One of Ukraine’s most distinguished medical leaders, Prof. Borys Todurov, director of Kyiv’s renowned Heart Institute of the Ukrainian Ministry of Health, will visit Australia with a team of three specialists from 7–19 February, offering first-hand insight into providing lifesaving medical care in a country under siege.
As Russian attacks on Ukrainian civilian areas and critical infrastructure intensify, Ukrainian hospitals face extraordinary challenges. Power, heat and light can be cut without warning, plunging operating theatres into darkness mid-procedure, and forcing surgeons to continue critical operations by torchlight. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukraine’s health system has endured more than 2,800 verified attacks, including the July 2024 strike on Kyiv’s Okhmadyt Children’s Cancer Hospital that killed 27 civilians and injured 117. In total, 328 medical facilities have been destroyed.
Amid these extreme wartime conditions, Prof. Todurov has continued to transform cardiac and transplantology care in Ukraine. He pioneered the country’s first: heart (2001) and paediatric heart transplants (2023), complex “heart – lung” (2023), “heart – kidney” (2021), implantation “mechanical heart” – adult (2016) and paediatric (2025), first heart retransplantation in Ukraine (2025) and has earned global media attention for his courage and unwavering commitment to saving lives during Russia’s brutal war.
He is also a sought-after keynote speaker at major international medical conferences, such as the World Transplant Congress (USA, 2025), International Society Heart and Lung transplantation (Prague, 2024; Boston, 2025), Military Medical Congress (USA, 2025) and others.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2014, Prof. Todurov has performed over 500 operations on wounded soldiers, providing frontline care and overseeing urgent medical evacuations.
Ukrainian Ambassador to Australia, His Excellency Mr Vasyl Myroshnychenko, said today: “Prof. Todurov is legendary, and the Heart Institute is one of Ukraine’s most respected medical institutions. This study trip to Australia will strengthen collaboration with Australian health teams and shine a light on the immense strain on Ukraine’s healthcare system, which must operate in darkness and freezing temperatures.”
During his Australian visit, Prof. Todurov and his delegation are available to speak about:
- The human cost of Russia’s war on Ukraine
- Delivering lifesaving care amid blackouts, air raids and attacks on civilian infrastructure
- The resilience and innovation of Ukrainian medical teams
- Developing and growing Ukraine’s transplant program during the war
The delegation, hosted by Alfred Health and St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney, will meet with Australian medical teams and experts, the Ukrainian-born Mykola Cardinal Bychok, and the Australian-Ukrainian community.
Delegation members include:
- Prof. Borys Todurov, Director
- Dr. Serhii Sudakevych, PhD, Chief of Extracorporeal Department
- Dr. Sofiia Chaikovska, PhD, Cardiac Surgeon and Transplantologist
- Dr. Mykola Melnyk, PhD, Anaesthesiologist
