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Monday, February 28: The dramatic events that happened through the fault of our president did not allow me to start. In addition the situation is changing rapidly and I needed some time to assess it. However, I apologize for not writing to you sooner.
I need to offer a deep apology for the actions of our authorities. The consequences of this are so terrible for the people of Ukraine, Russia and the whole world that it is difficult to put into words. I hope that common sense, humanism and our faith in the best will still overcome this horror. Of course we are ready to provide information about the situation in Russia. However, I need to inform you that I may not have all the information and therefore you may ask other Russian registers-members WMDA about this as well.
Today I can report the following. We are still ready to answer for preliminary search requests without any restrictions. Also we are ready to carry out verification typing and send blood samples outside of Russia upon request. In addition, we are ready to carry out work-up and PBS collections in Russia (we have an agreement with two collection centers). Our registry has its own small team of couriers who have dual citizenship (Russia and one of the EU countries) and who have been trained in Time-matters company. However the situation is changing very quickly, so I can't be sure that changes will not occur. What difficulties may arise?
- If Russia is disconnected from the Internet I am afraid that we will't be able to receive e-mail and use WMDA-Search. However we will be able to perform donor search requests and exchange information on them using a fax (we saved it).
- If air communication with Russia (including cargo) is completely stopped we will't be able to send blood samples for VT. However we will be able to perform VT+IDM tests in Russia and provide results.
- If air communication with Russia is completely cut off we will't be able to send the donor's HSC by air, but in this case we can offer shipment by car (one of our collection centers is located in St. Petersburg and courier may get to Helsinki by car for 6-8 hours). In this case, Helsinki can be considered as the main hub for sending PBS to other countries.I should draw your attention to the fact that I have listed possible scenarios for solving problems in case the situation develops unfavorably. But maybe the restrictions will stop at some current point.In any case for each request our registry will decide individually based on the situation at that point in time.
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