Olga Murka Hospital press secretary, Hospitalers Veterinary Mission to Ukraine, which provides sterilization, vaccination and emergency care through a mobile hospital and evacuation bus. She shapes public-facing messaging that explains mission goals, documents field impact, and connects donors, volunteers, shelters and clinics with front-line animal support. Murka prioritizes sustainable institutional funding—especially from international organizations and foundations—so that operations are not dependent on small private donations that can be diverted to urgent defense needs. His communications highlight rescue outcomes, rabies risks and the practical logistics behind each deployment. He also promoted a stable team of vets and assistants for the mission.
In this interview, Scott Douglas Jacobsen Talks with Olga Murka, the hospital’s press secretary, about how communications support mobile veterinary missions in war-torn Ukraine. Murka says the priority is broad: fundraising, public awareness and recruitment, while policy impact is not the focus. He emphasized the shift from international organizations and foundations to sustainable funding. Murka outlined a simple mission: identify rescue targets, deploy a mobile vet bus, provide sterilization, vaccination, antiparasitic care and food, and evacuate animals if necessary. Maintains reporting partners, donors and volunteers with photos, videos and rescue stories. Key partners include shelters, clinics and a volunteer network.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What is the current focus of hospital communication: fundraising, influencing policy, raising public awareness or attracting new participants?
Olga Murka: Broadly, everything listed above except the second one. The aim of the effort is to find sustainable funding sources that do not depend on donations from private individuals, which can instead be directed towards supporting and meeting the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (international organizations and international foundations).
Work with the public in key areas, namely:
- • To raise awareness about helping animals from the frontlines and unoccupied zones.
- • Focusing on the evacuation, treatment, sterilization and vaccination of war-affected animals.
- • To raise awareness about the increase in rabies and uncontrolled growth of animal population in frontline zones.
Undoubtedly, it is necessary to build a team of doctors and assistants to carry out the core mission tasks.
Jacobsen: From a communications perspective, what is a typical mission approach and logistics?
Anger: From a communication perspective, a mission includes the following key elements:
- Preparation for Mission:
- Presenting a clear purpose (who we are rescuing, who we are helping and why).
- Drawing attention to the plight of animals in frontline areas.
Logistics Components:
- Arranging a mobile veterinary bus and team departure.
- Providing on-site medical assistance (main emphasis disinfection, vaccination against infectious diseases, antiparasitic treatment, and provision of food).
- In case of moving individual animals – placing them in shelters or finding foster/adoptive families.
- Contact Material:
- Reporting on each mission with photos/videos to demonstrate real results and impact.
- Using rescue stories to inspire donors, partners and volunteers.
Jacobsen: Which partnerships are most important to your work: local shelters, international rescue organizations, municipal veterinarians, etc.?
Anger:
- International rescue agencies/donors.
- They financially support all projects and field missions, relocation and treatment, and provide funds for the purchase of consumables, protective equipment for animals and food.
- Local shelters and veterinary clinics.
- They provide possible post-operative care (if necessary), continue to work independently in this direction, assist with possible post-transplant care and provide temporary housing for animals.
- A wide network of volunteers in different regions.
- It is a critically important partnership network for rapid response and on-the-ground support for our mission and activities.
Jacobsen: What are the biggest constraints for project scaling today?
Anger:
- Financial resources and logistics.
- Projects of this scale require stable funding for vehicle repairs, fuel for field trips, equipment, veterinary supplies, and all necessary provisions during the mission.
- Volunteer and staff resources.
- Need qualified veterinary professionals, drivers, and those who love animals and are ready to help.
- Access to security/hotspots in war zones.
- This significantly affects mission deployment capabilities. The continued expansion of battlefields and the increased use of drone surveillance often make it physically impossible to conduct decontamination missions in areas close to active combat zones.
- Partnership network and reception infrastructure.
- More shelters are needed to expand mission capacity and conduct more frequent evacuation trips.
Jacobsen: Thank you so much for the opportunity and your time, Olga.
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Scott Douglas Jacobsen A writer-editor for Good Men Project With over 1,800 publications on the platform. He is its founder and publisher In-Site Publishing (ISBN: 978-1-0692343; 978-1-0673505) and its editor-in-chief In-Site: Interview (ISSN: 2369-6885). He writes for International Policy Digest (ISSN: 2332-9416), humanist (Print: ISSN, 0018-7399; Online: ISSN, 2163-3576), Basic Income Earth Network (UK registered charity 1177066), Humanist perspective (ISSN: 1719-6337), A further investigation (substack), vocal, moderate, New lighting project, Washington Outsider, rabble.caand other media. His bibliography can be found through the index Jacobsen Bank At In-Site Publishing. He has held national and international leadership roles within humanitarian and media organizations, held several academic fellowships, and currently serves on several boards. He is a member in good standing of numerous media organizations including Canadian Journalists Association, Penn Canada (CRA: 88916 2541 RR0001), and Reporters Without Borders (SIREN: 343 684 221/SIRET: 343 684 221 00041/EIN: 20-0708028), and others.
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Photo by Marcus Winkler on Unsplash
