Under Fire and Understaffed: The Fight to Save Ukraine’s Wounded

A combat medic, pouring with sweat after carrying the wounded out from their positions, paced the room anxiously as doctors worked on the men, before heading back to the front line.

“Around 10 rockets from a grenade launcher landed nearby,” the soldier, Batya, 51, said, describing the attack on their position. Still reeling from a concussion, he said he had grabbed a medical kit and run out to help the wounded. He came across the first wounded soldier, Vorchun (Grumpy), in the nearest bunker and bandaged his face and hands, and then found his friend Shuravi, 57, who had been dragged into a trench with a chest injury, he said.

“He was probably in the open when he was hit,” Batya said, slumping in a chair, his head in his hands.

The three men from the 110th Brigade would survive, said Romashka, a quiet, calm officer who heads the stabilization point. Romashka, whose call sign means Daisy, called the next medical post: “I’m sending you six guys, two yellow, the rest green.”

The next day, the 110th Brigade took part in an assault, taking heavy casualties. At night, all four tables were occupied by soldiers with severe leg injuries that would need amputation, said a Swedish volunteer combat medic, who that his name not be published for security reasons. The next morning, soldiers carried out body parts in black bags for disposal.