Ukrainian paramedics teach civilians life-saving skills

Although he may not be on the front lines of the war, Ukrainian paramedic Vselovod Dorofeev knows the work he is doing — training civilians how to save a life — is just as important.

A member of the Ukrainian volunteer paramedic organization Hospitallers, Dorofeev was in Kyiv recently training civilians in combat first-aid prior to their deployment to the front lines of Ukraine's fight against Russian forces.

The organization has helped train hundreds of people since Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.

Speaking to CTV National News' National Affairs Correspondent Omar Sachedina, Dorofeev acknowledged that while he may not be in the fight at the moment, he still has an important role to play.

"If I was in the front line, who will teach this person? And I think it's important too," he said.

With the war now more than two months in, Russia has redeployed much of its forces from major centres such as Kyiv to Ukraine's eastern Donbas region, where separatists in Donetsk and Luhansk have been fighting Ukrainian troops since 2014.

Western officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press, say Russia has made slow progress in the Donbas, achieving only "minor gains" by capturing villages and small towns.

They say some Russian soldiers have moved from the besieged southeastern port city of Mariupol, located along the Sea of Azov, to other parts of the Donbas.

About 2,000 Ukrainian forces and 1,000 civilians remain holed up at the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, the city's last stronghold.

Dorofeev told CTV National News the biggest hope he has for his country is that citizens stand their ground, and that other countries help by aiding Ukrainian refugees or supplying weapons to Ukraine.

Watch the full video with CTV National News' National Affairs Correspondent Omar Sachedina at the top of the article.