Ambulance hit by Russian drone goes on display in centre of Bratislava

On a plinth outside Bratislava’s Old Market Hall, a mangled ambulance draws the gaze of passers-by. Shattered windows, a collapsed roof and scorched interior reveal the vehicle’s violent past. Once a mobile lifeline on Ukraine’s eastern front, the ambulance – nicknamed Oksana – was destroyed by a Russian drone strike in January, killing two Ukrainian soldiers on board.

Now it has arrived in Slovakia as part of an exhibition titled “Zničená sanitka” (The Destroyed Ambulance), marking the first time a war-ravaged vehicle from the front lines has been publicly displayed in the country since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, the news agency TASR reported.

“Oksana was a symbol of hope and rescue. Now it is a charred reminder of Russian aggression,” said Myroslav Kastran, Ukraine’s ambassador to Slovakia, at the opening ceremony earlier in the week.

Bratislava Mayor Matúš Vallo (l) and Ukrainian Ambassador to Slovakia Myroslav Kastran stand in front of a destroyed Ukrainian ambulance in downtown Bratislava on 15 April 2025. (source: TASR - Pavel Neubauer)

The ambulance was originally donated to the Ukrainian Armed Forces in November 2024, delivered personally by a group of Slovak women to the city of Izium. Among them was documentary filmmaker Dorota Vlnová, who, alongside photographer Andrea Kalinová and others, handed the vehicle over to medics from Ukraine’s 38th Independent Marine Brigade.

The women had jokingly named the vehicle Oksana. “We had no idea it would only serve two months before being destroyed,” Vlnová said, as quoted by Denník N. “This is not a museum exhibit from decades ago. This is now. It concerns us all.”

The exhibition, supported by Bratislava mayor Matúš Vallo and the Open Society Foundation, includes video footage of the attack that destroyed the ambulance near the village of Rodynske. The vehicle was later recovered by Ukrainian marines, transported to Uzhhorod and eventually brought to Slovakia. 

“Oksana was a symbol of hope and rescue. Now it is a charred reminder of Russian aggression,” said Myroslav Kastran, Ukraine’s ambassador to Slovakia. (source: TASR - Pavel Neubauer)

For Kastran, the wreck serves not only as a memento of the fallen but also as a call for continued solidarity. “This is not just Ukraine’s fight,” he said. “It is a challenge to every society that values freedom, democracy and human dignity.”

The exhibition will remain in Bratislava until 5 May before travelling to other cities including Prague, Žilina and Trenčín, and will appear at the Pohoda music festival this summer.

“This ambulance shows that our help cannot be a one-time gesture,” said Vallo. “We must continue helping those who defend themselves – without asking what we get in return.”