"We were able to identify him by his right hand, there was nothing left". Report about paramedics in Bakhmut direction

In the courtyard of the stabilization point in Bakhmut, people in military uniforms take out a stretcher with a wounded soldier from the car and quickly bring it inside.

“Mykolayovych, two legs. Be careful, be careful!” the surgeon commands, paving the way to the ward where stabilization measures are carried out.

Other wounded are already lying on gurneys here. There are droppers everywhere, and piles of medicines on the tables. Medics take scissors and cut the trousers of a soldier who has just been brought in. There is a deep wound above the soldier's knee. The soldier moans in pain but rises to see what is wrong with his leg. He is asked to lie down and not move. “Lie down, lie down, dear, you are straining, do you hear me?” the paramedic calms the guy.

Six people in twelve hands save the soldier and encourage him: “Everything will be fine”. The man answers through the pain: “My war is over”. In this institution, he is stabilized, and from here he will be taken to the hospital.

Our journalists Nastia Stanko and Kolian Pastyko visited Bakhmut and talked to those who save the lives of Ukrainian soldiers in the hottest area of the front.

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“Over the past period, Orkostan and Orcs (as Russians and Russia are called — ed.) have been trying to break through. But thanks to the heroic efforts of those guys who are at the "zero", we do not let them, and thanks to the efforts of those who go to the "zero" and take the wounded and the dead to return them to their relatives. Sometimes we do not get enough sleep. There is constant movement here, at the "zero", on the front line,” says the head of the evacuation group of the 93rd Brigade Oleksandr Sokoliuk.

At this moment we are interrupted by a loud explosion.

“Calm down, calm down, calm down...” Sokoliuk says “Yes, the shell hit. But it's okay, it was far away, about two houses away. The main thing is not to panic. This is the first one. Several times it was literally five meters from the door... Move away.

We can work, we need to work. Because those who are brought here from the "zero", from the front line, from cold trenches and dugouts, have hope that the medical staff here — a doctor, an anesthesiologist, a paramedic, a nurse — will help them and will not let them leave this world. And shells have been falling and will continue to fall. But sometimes it falls very close. And sometimes it falls far away, as just before it fell two houses away. Well, it fell, it is okay.

The nearest adequate stabilization point is Druzhkivka (the distance from Bakhmut to Druzhkivka is 45 km — ed.). It is very far to go there. The guys arrive with injuries of varying severity. That means, there are times when you can take a guy to Druzhkivka and his condition will not deteriorate, and there are times when you just bring him there and the doctors will not be able to do anything. This stabilization point is to be able to save the life of an injured person so that they don’t get worse.

They began to shell frequently and heavily using heavy artillery. And it is not easy. If we had the opportunity to adequately respond to them, it would be very, very good. Because it is extremely difficult for the guys to work at the "zero", and for us, who go to the very "zero", it is difficult to take the wounded when the 150-caliber, 120-caliber shells fall, you know. Or when a tank fires. It is very difficult. Here is the last case. A good, very good medic, our companion, by the way, was killed, may he rest in peace, he was from Donetsk Oblast. Unfortunately, we were able to identify him only by his right hand. Because there were no other parts of his body. He went to evacuate the wounded and, unfortunately, did not get there.

We have been here with the 93rd Brigade since mid-August. No replacement, no way out. It is already the fourth month. But the leadership goes to the front line and finds out what the situation is. And it is good.”

There is another explosion.

“It is far, far away... Everything is fine... If we did not do it here during the explosions, then we would not be here. Imagine such a situation, but without concrete, without bricks — in the field or in the forest plantation, when it hits, explodes. You have to put a needle in a vein, free the airways, and start the heart. So that he could be brought here so that doctors could provide him with better aid. So now everyone is doing what they can,” adds Sokoliuk.

The surgeon of the medical company of the 93rd Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Serhii Fedoseiev, has stabilized the second wounded in the short time we have been at the point. When he has a free minute, he comes to us in the corridor to tell us about his work.

“Only crazy people do not think about safety. We are even getting mortar shelling... But this is war, not just some kind of fun. People are dying here, they are defending their land. Therefore, it is necessary to be here. 

It is already freezing, today it was -12 °C at night. There were already the first guys with frostbite. We provide assistance, trying to send them something warm there, some thermoses with warm water, chemical heaters, and trench candles. It helps... But we understand that all this will not keep you much warmer. But this is the reality now.

We are kidding. Otherwise, it is very bad, you can't do without jokes. Without jokes, everyone would go crazy,” Fadieiev says.

While answering a question about his chevron, which says “Bob Marley's Squad”, movement starts in the corridor. The surgeon understands that a wounded man has been brought. And he runs headlong. The soldier is wounded in the leg. He is conscious. His name is Dima.

“Dima, are you breathing? Dima? Breathe,” the military paramedics ask the soldier.

Watch the video version of this report here .