Sofia and Solomia Artemchuk believe that they have followed a similar path in life because they are twins. It was, thus, perhaps inevitable that they would end in the same unit in the military carrying out the same risky task in this conflict.

       The sisters, 30-years-old, are members of a voluntary medical battalion, the Hospitallers, who deal with emergency treatment and evacuation of the injured, around the clock, often under heavy fire.

       The nature of the job means that there are, inevitably, casualties among the members of the unit, from being caught up in air strikes and artillery fire as well as due to being deliberately targeted, they claim, by Russian forces.

       The WHO ( World Health Organisation) said this week that attacks on healthcare facilities have been steadily rising with nine people dying in at least 16 separate attacks since the Russian invasion. It points out that some of the cases occurred when ambulances were commandeered for non-healthcare activities, without specifying which side was responsible.

       The Hospitallers deny they have ever used subterfuge to gain access to places where there have been casualties. They are, however, armed during their missions, have engaged in firefights with the enemy and are based alongside Ukrainian frontline detachments.

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       A woman, working as a guard, stands as smoke comes from the warehouse after falling down of a Russian Kalibr missile debris which was shot down over Kalynivka village, near Brovary, the eastern frontline of Kyiv

       (EPA)

       The battalion, named after the Order of Knights Hospitallers based in Jerusalem at the time of the Crusades, was started in Ukraine in 2015 to care for the wounded during the separatist wars which led to the establishment of the ‘ peoples republics’ of Donetsk and Luhansk.

       The founder of the Hospitallers, Yana Zinkevich, had planned to study medicine at university, but stayed on with the battalion as its commander. She has been awarded the Order of Merit by the Ukrainian government as well as receiving several civic awards.

       Having a female chief has been a motivation for some of those who have joined.

       “It’s good that we have a woman in an important position at a time like this”, said a 27-year-old volunteer. “And it is good to talk about this today, International’s Women’s Day . For us it is important to mark this day not just as something symbolic, but something very real.”

       Natalya, who did not want her surname published partly because members of her family are in Mariupol, a city currently being encircled by Russian troops, worked as a graphic designer before joining the Hospitallers.

       Commander Zinchenko inspecting the Hospitallers

       (Kim Sengupta)

       “The company I worked for has had to shut down. Most of the staff have left Kyiv for western Ukraine so I don’t know when it can reopen. We don’t even know what’s going to happen to Kyiv,” she said. “A lot of my friends, my family, have gone as well. But I’ve decided to stay, It’s our city and we need to look after our people here.”

       The mother of Sofia and Solomia Artemchuk was among the first to volunteer to serve, as a military volunteer, in the conflict seven years ago. She is now in Lviv, concerned about her daughters, but not discouraging them from continuing with their duties.

       “We did not even know that our mother had volunteered when she did: she did not want to worry us,” said Solomia Artemchuk at a base of the battalion in Kyiv. “So maybe serving the country is part of our DNA. This is a struggle for all Ukrainians, women as well as men. It is natural that we would want to take part in this.”

       The extent of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

       (Press Association Images)

       Her sister Sofia added: “We knew what’s involved, what the dangers are, when we joined : so we cannot complain about that. We have received training on weapons, but haven’t had to use them so far. Our job is to save lives, that is our priority, but we have to defend ourselves as well if necessary.”

       Katarina Halushka, a colleague and friend who works at the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence, was visiting the two sisters. The three women saw each other almost every day before the war. This was a rare opportunity to catch up.

       They talked about mutual friends, their boyfriends past and present, what has happened to the places they used to hang out, and where they would all like to meet up when the conflict was over.

       “But now that the chitchat is over let’s talk about the war”, said 25-year-old Ms Halushka, who carries a pistol, a Makarov, in a holster around her waist.

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       “A lot of people abroad thought that Vladimir Putin was going to crush us easily, that he’ll take Kyiv in a few days. That hasn’t happened, we are fighting back well as you can see. We are very grateful for international support, but it’s us, all Ukrainians, who will see it through to the end.”