After difficult days, calm returned to the military hospital in Zaporizhia, a city in eastern Ukraine. But clashes in the Dnieper region continue and health services, within range of Russian weapons, are trying to treat the patients as best they can.
“We are less than 50 km from the front lines. The most seriously injured are brought into this resuscitation room first. As you can see, we block the windows to make the place safe. We avoid leaving the wounded here for so long.” risky,” says Yurii, one of the doctors at the military hospital. “Most of the time, when the patient’s condition stabilizes, they’re taken to civilian hospitals further north,” he adds.
Among the wounded is Stepan, a young soldier who has just arrived from the Donbass region, out of breath.
“I was wounded yesterday in the Donetsk region. A shot from a Russian tank hit our position. The projectile landed very close to us. It was chaos because the bunker collapsed on us. I ran away, but I have a lot of bruises and my back Next to me, a comrade had his leg amputated and he didn’t survive,” says the soldier.
According to Lieutenant Colonel Viktor Pysanko, director of the military hospital, if earlier patients with injuries caused mainly by explosions were admitted, today the number of victims of artillery fire is increasing.
“The Russians are doing this to try to push our battle lines out. It’s an old method, tried and tested in Afghanistan and Chechnya. They cover everything with their artillery and then try to push the front with their infantry,” he explains.
Authorities are also relying on foreign health workers to help remotely. A paratrooper who had previously served in Kosovo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo used his network of contacts to develop the use of telemedicine. From the United States to France via Israel, several doctors followed the young officer’s call and participated in the operations.
2 of 3 A rocket is launched by Ukrainian troops near Luhansk in the Donbass region on Sunday 10th — Photo: Anatolii Stepanov/AFP
A rocket is launched by Ukrainian troops near Luhansk in the Donbass region on Sunday, 10 Photo: Anatolii Stepanov/AFP
In the Donbass the resistance continues
Farther east, in the Donbass region, home to the selfproclaimed republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, the offensive launched more than a week ago is slowly progressing. The bombardments are heavy, but Russian forces struggle to take village after village.
“There are a lot of people here who support the Russians,” says a man in military fatigues, who introduced himself as a member of a Donbass territorial defense unit.
“These people have already surrendered all of our army positions to the Russians, but we’re still trying to remain discreet,” he and his two colleagues said on a dirt road outside the wellknown separatist town of Slavyansk.
3 of 3 Map shows areas under separatist control in Luhansk and Donetsk regions — Photo: g1
The map shows areas under separatist control in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions — Photo: g1
The sound of gunfire can be heard in the distance. “They’re just for training,” explains Ruzlan, the only one in the group with a military background. “A soldier must learn to get comfortable with his weapon. When I enlisted in the military, I lived and slept with my gun for months,” he says.
The Ukrainian Territorial Defense Forces are made up of civilians to support the conventional army. Soldiers say they are willing to die for their country. But it’s difficult to keep the troops motivated, says the unit’s leader, a former landscape photographer.
“You can’t say that they are bored, but there are people who are currently engaged in intense fighting on the front lines. We all came to fight and now we just patrol the city. So I try to motivate my unit all the time,” he says.