Ukrainian army medics fight to save lives near frontline
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[February 21, 2023]
By Marko Djurica and Yiming Woo
NEAR VUHLEDAR, Ukraine (Reuters) - In a dingy medical outpost near
eastern Ukraine's front lines, army medic Viktor battles to save lives
on a daily basis.
Nearly a year into Russia's invasion, fighting now amounts to
attritional duels of artillery and infantry assaults, with neither side
making significant gains.
The costs of that deadly grind are clear to Viktor's team of seven
medics and six nurses as it toils away, hemmed in by racks of medical
supplies and portable heaters, at this "stabilisation point" in the
Donetsk region, where battles are fierce.
"The wounded are brought here, we provide treatment, stabilise them and
restore vital functions, and send (them) to the next stage of evacuation
- to hospitals," said Viktor, who declined to give his full name.
Describing the feeling of being unable to save a life, Viktor, a
gynaecologist before the war, said: "It's the worst thing you can
imagine."
The number of patients brought in - up to 25 per day - has risen sharply
over the past two weeks, he said, the vast majority wounded by shrapnel.
But bullet wounds are becoming more frequent, a sign that fighting is
increasingly at close quarters.
Evacuating soldiers from the frontline, via one of the team's five
drivers, usually takes between 20 and 40 minutes, but the wounded
sometimes find themselves waiting up to two hours if fighting doesn't
let up.
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![](../images/022123PIX/health41.jpg)
Medics carry a wounded Ukrainian soldier
on a stretcher to transport him to a hospital, outside a frontline
medical stabilisation point amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, near
Vuhledar, Donetsk region, Ukraine, February 19, 2023. Adrenaline
helps keep the medical team going and enables them to cope with the
almost constant flow of wounded soldiers, including some Russians
who are later exchanged for Ukrainian prisoners. REUTERS/Marko
Djurica.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/Feb/21/images/ads/current/llm_lda_ANIMAL_2023.png) That was the case on a recent day in
late February, when soldiers Ruslan and Serhiy were brought in for
treatment at the heavily sandbagged facility after being fired on by
a Russian tank.
Neither had life-threatening injuries, though Ruslan's right foot
was mangled. Viktor's team, which belongs to the 72nd Mechanized
Brigade, believes he bore the brunt of the hit, helping ensure
Serhiy walked away with only a broken arm.
Adrenaline helps keep the medical team going and enables them to
cope with the almost constant flow of wounded soldiers, including
some Russians who are later exchanged for Ukrainian prisoners.
"This is our job," said Viktor from inside their outpost, which is
festooned with Ukrainian flags and drawings and thank-you notes from
children across the country.
"We know what we signed up for."
(Writing by Dan Peleschuk; Editing by Timothy Heritage and Frank
Jack Daniel)
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