SCIENCE IS THE WEAPON FOR THE FUTURE OF UKRAINE
Authors: Zayachkivska Oksana , Coenen Anton 
Published: December 2022

Dear Reader! Today marked the 299th day of the war for the independence of Ukraine. Besides the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the frontline of our battle against the aggressor is being held by healthcare professionals whose selfless work saves lives and the health of patients and ensures the existence of Ukraine. From now on, along with experimental and clinical medicine, there is war medicine in Ukraine, and the entire world is fascinated by its results. NATO Parliamentary Assembly has recently recognized our enemy as a terrorist state and called for creating a specialized international tribunal to punish all criminals. However, the full-scale invasion of the enemy with air raid alerts, shelling, scheduled and emergency blackouts did not stop Ukrainians in their love for education, scientific and research work, and awareness-raising activities. The words once uttered by great Ukrainian Hryhoriy Skovoroda, whose 300th anniversary we are celebrating this year, “The one who thinks of science, loves it, and the one who loves it, will never stop learning, no matter how passive he might seem”, are now more levant than ever. After all, they represent Ukrainian healthcare professionals and scientists. Progressive colleagues from across the globe – people of all races, all ages, ethnicities and religious orientations stand in solidarity with them. Together, they use all available possibilities and talents to bring victory closer and strengthen the positive image of Ukraine in the world. At this time the war situation is complex, with a labile standstill at the front in the east of Ukraine. Meanwhile is it an established fact that an independent Ukraine will continue to exist. Nevertheless, the loss of human lives and the destruction of society and infrastructure continues. Ukraine has shown an exceptional brave perseverance and strength. Now it is time to move forward with wise policies. Life must have to return to normal, without serious threats of war attacks. People have to build up Ukraine and healthcare professionals and scientists need to go back to their regular work finding improvements in daily living for the population. Our journal has a dual mission: 1) to enshrine the confident and attractive image of the journal, which is read in 154 countries of the world, in Ukraine and on the scientific map of the world; and 2) to unite progressive medical communities to share experiences and help Ukraine in the time of war. We would like to extend our sincere gratitude to members of the editorial board, who helped in the making of the journal in 2019-2020. Proudly and confidently, we present our readers with a new issue of our journal. This issue saw the light of day thanks to the extraordinary efforts and incredible responsibility of our authors, reviewers, and editors. Review the detailed report on the 6th International Symposium SMARTLION 2022. Medicine and War, which gathered participating lecturers not just from Ukraine, but also the USA, Germany, France and the UK. View video collections in the annex to the publication to review the unique doctor’s experience under conditions of the terroristic russian-Ukrainian war [1]. We would like to express sincere gratitude to every volunteer for help, solidarity and partnership with Ukrainian doctors and scientists [2,3], as well as physicians who are on the medical frontline in this terroristic war [4]. The cover page of this Issue “The light will overcome the darkness” (author: Ivan Dzis, MD, PhD) reflects our hope for Victory for Ukraine in 2023. We hope that the activities of our journal will serve as additional weapons for the future of Ukraine, and the editorial team will manage to continue developing the journal next year. We wish everyone health and victory in 2023! Glory to Ukraine! Glory to the Heroes!