The first mention of the Sovereign Order of Malta on the territory of Ukraine dates back to the 17th century. In that distant time, the last Prince of the Ostrozky tribe, Janusz, a Roman Catholic, founded a majorat in 1609 in the honor of his daughter, Euphrosyne (married to Alexander Zaslavsky). If his kinship was interrupted, the majorat would have been converted to the Order of Malta as Commandery. But contrary to the testament of Prince Ostrozky and despite numerous protests from the Order, this majorat became part of the property of the Sangushiv princes at the end of the XVII century.

It was only in the second half of the 18th century that it was possible to settle the case, when a special commissioner of the Order addressed the corresponding petition directly to the Russian Empress Catherine II. Eventually, in the Ukrainian-Byelorussian and Polish lands, which after the divisions of the Commonwealth withdrew to Russia, the Great Priority of the Order of Malta was founded. Soon all of the Jesuits’ estates in Poland were handed over to the Order.

In the modern independent Ukraine, the Order of Malta has been present since December 1990, when the Malteser Relief Service (MRS) of Germany began its winter humanitarian assistance and aid. On February 23, 1993, on the initiative of the leadership of the Sovereign Order of Malta and the German Malteser Relief Service, the charitable organization “Malteser Relief Service in Lviv” was registered.
Over time, the centers of the Malteser Relief Service appeared in Kyiv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Beregovo, Mukachevo (later merged with the Beregovo relief service), Lutsk (subsequently ceased its activities).

In parallel with the German Malteser Relief Service, an important activity of the Order of Malta in Ukraine was the humanitarian assistance provided to the Sheptytsky Hospital in Lviv (this has been granted by the Florentine Delegation of the Grand Priory of Rome of the Order of Malta since 1990 and till today). Only from 1992 to 2002, 27 different humanitarian cargoes were delivered to Lviv (mostly medicines and medical equipment).

An important milestone in the activities of the Malteser Relief Service centers was the unification on June 14, 2013 into the same structure – the Malteser Relief Service of Ukraine (MRSU). The purpose of the founding of the MRSU is the implementation of the slogan of the Order – ” Defending the Faith and Service to the Poor ” – in society and formation of the spirit of Christian love of neighbor.

Today, the Malteser Relief Service of Ukraine is a well-organized and consolidated structure with headquarters in Lviv, which has hundreds of volunteers, dozens of professionally trained rescuers, and it implements a large number of social and humanitarian projects aimed at helping the most vulnerable groups of the population. The main centers of MRSU operate in Ivano-Frankivsk, Berehove, Lviv. Through its subdivisions and partners in Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Odesa, Varash, Yuzhnoukrainsk, Kamianets-Podilskyi, Kyiv, the organization provides humanitarian aid, close to the front line, to people under constant shelling and to internally displaced persons.

Between Ukraine and the Sovereign Order of Malta the diplomatic relations are established at the ambassador level on February 9, 2008.

The Embassy of the Order operates in Kyiv; in Rome there is the Embassy of Ukraine to the Order of Malta.

On April 16, 2008, Frà Matthew Festing, the Prince and Grand Master of the Sovereign Order of Malta, appointed H.E. Paul Friedrich von Fuhrherr as first Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta to Ukraine. On November 21, 2008, the President of Ukraine Victor Yushchenko received his Letter of Credence.

In turn, on July 21, 2008, the first Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Ukraine to the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta was appointed. It was the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Ukraine to the Holy See H.E. Tetyana Izhevskaya, who on March 3, 2009 handed the Letter of Credence to the Prince and Grand Master of the Order of Malta Fra Matthew Festing.

In 2011, the Government of the Sovereign Order of Malta decided to open a chancellery of the Embassy in Kyiv. Thus, on February 29, 2012 the Embassy of the Sovereign Order of Malta in Ukraine with the Ambassador’s residence in Kyiv officially began its activities.

In 2014 H.E. Antonio Gazzanti Pugliese di Cotrone became Ambassador of the Order of Malta in Ukraine, and on September 11, 2014, he presented the Letter of Credence to President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko.

On June 6, 2019 an intergovernmental Cooperation Agreement was signed between the Government of Ukraine and the Sovereign Order of Malta, with purpose to set the general framework and guidelines of the cooperation between the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the Government of the Sovereign Order of Malta aimed at promoting the medical, social, educational and health care actions of the latter in the territory of Ukraine. The Аgreement was ratified and entered into force on January 27, 2021.

Hight level visits

18 November 2010 – Deputy Head of the Administration of the President of Ukraine Mr. Andriy Goncharuk visited the Grand Magistry of the Sovereign Order of Malta and met with the Diplomatic Adviser to the Grand Chancellor of the Sovereign Order of Malta, Ambassador Leoncini Bartoli.

This was the first visit since the establishment of diplomatic relations between two countries, which provided an opportunity to discuss the development of mutual cooperation and outline promising areas for further cooperation.

22 June 2011 – Director of the Third Territorial Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Mr. Andrii Melnyk visited the Grand Magistry of the Sovereign Order of Malta. The meeting was held with the Diplomatic Adviser to the Grand Chancellor of the Sovereign Order of Malta, Ambassador Leoncini Bartoli.

19 November 2015 – First Lady of Ukraine Maryna Poroshenko visited the San Giovanni Battista Hospital of in Rome.

4-6 April 2016 – Grand Chancellor of the Order of Malta H.E. Albrecht Freiherr von Boeselager paid an official visit to Ukraine. During the visit, high-level meetings were held with Prime Minister of Ukraine H.E. Mr. Arseniy Yatsenyuk and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Mr. Vadym Prystaiko in order to discuss the development of bilateral cooperation. Both parties agreed on the need to sign a cooperation agreement between the two countries.

8 August 2018 – Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine H.E. Mr. Pavlo Klimkin visited the Magistral Villa of the Sovereign Order of Malta.

20 March 2022 – an Orders’ delegation headed by the Grand Hospitaller, H.E. Dominique Prince de la Rochefoucauld-Montbel, who first met in Poland (Krakow), crossed the border with Ukraine at Korczowa- Krakovets as part of an inspection of the Order of Malta medical and aid facilities located in Krościenko (PL) and Krakovets (UA). Participants where the Order’s Ambassador to Poland, the Hospitaller of the Polish Association and the Director of Maltese Aid Poland.

23 November 2022 – H.E. Fra’ Alessandro De Franciscis, the Grand Hospitaller of the Sovereign Order of Malta, paid a working visit to Berehove (Zakarpattia region). The purpose of the visit was to get acquainted with the activities of the Malteser Relief Service of Ukraine and discuss further plans of the development of the activities of the Order’s structures in Ukraine, including the assistance to people affected by the war. Special attention was dedicated to logistics issues and the increasing of the potential of the Order’s activities in Ukraine.

4 March 2023 – H.E. Fra’ Alessandro De Franciscis, the Grand Hospitaller of the Sovereign Order of Malta, paid a working visit to Lviv. The meeting with the team of the Malteser Relief Service of Ukraine was held in order to discuss the situation in Ukraine and the activities carried out by the team, including the provision of psychological assistance to IDPs and people affected by the war, the work of shelters for IDPs, and the assistance provided in the liberated territories.

27 April 2023 – Visit of the Prime Minister of Ukraine H.E. Mr. Denys Shmyhal to the Sovereign Order of Malta (Magistral Villa). Meeting with the Lieutenant of the Grand Master Fra’ John Dunlap.

10 October 2023 – Courtesy visit of the Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, H.E. Mr. Mykola Tochytsyi, to the Secretary General for Foreign Affairs, H.E. Ambassador Giampaolo Cantini.