After hard days, calm returned to the military hospital in Zaporizhia, located in eastern Ukraine. However, conflicts continue in the Dnieper River region, and the health services accessible by Russian weapons are trying to treat the sick as much as they can.

“We’re less than 50km from the front. The most severely injured are brought into this resuscitation room first. As you can see, we’re closing the windows to make the place safe. We avoid leaving the wounded here for too long. It’s risky.” , reports Yurii, one of the doctors at the military hospital. “Often, when the patient’s condition stabilizes, they are taken to civilian hospitals further north.”

Among the injured is Stepan, a young soldier who has just arrived from the Donbass region, gasping with pain. “Yesterday I was wounded in the Donetsk area. A Russian tank hit our firing position. The bullet landed very close to us. It was a mess because the bunker collapsed on us. Lots of bruises and a backache. A comrade next to me had his leg amputated and he couldn’t escape,” says the soldier.

According to Lieutenant Colonel Viktor Pysanko, the director of the military hospital, if previously patients were admitted mainly with injuries caused by explosions, today the number of victims of artillery fire is increasing. “The Russians are doing this to push our battle lines. This is an old method that has already been proven in Afghanistan and Chechnya. They cover everything with their artillery and then they try to push the front with their infantry,” he explains.

Authorities also rely on foreign health professionals to assist remotely. A paratrooper who previously served in Kosovo and the Democratic Republic of Congo used the network to improve the use of telemedicine. From the USA to France, through Israel, many doctors responded to the call of the young officer and contributed to the operations.

Resistance continues in Donbass

Further east, in the Donbass region, home to the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, the offensive launched more than a week ago is advancing slowly. The bombings are intense, but Russian forces are fighting to take over village by village.

“There are a lot of people here who support the Russians,” says a man in military garb, who introduces himself as a member of the Donbass regional defense unit. “These people have already given all our army positions to the Russians, but we still try to stay hidden,” he explains, along with two colleagues, on a dirt road outside of Slavyansk, a city known as Separatists.

In the distance, gunshots can be heard. “These are just for training,” explains Ruzlan, who is the only one in the group with a military background. “The soldier should learn to be friendly with his gun. When I went to the military, I slept with my gun for months,” he says.

Ukrainian territorial defense forces consist of civilians to support the conventional army. Soldiers say they are ready to die for their land. But the head of the unit, a former landscape photographer, explains that it is difficult to motivate the troops. “You can’t say they’re bored, but right now there are people on the front lines engaged in intense fighting. We all came to fight and now we’re just patrolling the city. That’s why I’m trying to motivate my entire troop time,” he reports. .

* with incoming information Oriane gardener and big sister jounaidIPosted by private RFI to Ukraine