Dubai Telegraph - Pressure on frontline medics as Ukraine fights back

EUR -
AED 3.82663
AFN 70.961809
ALL 98.138672
AMD 405.653176
ANG 1.877183
AOA 951.190967
ARS 1044.167695
AUD 1.599646
AWG 1.877898
AZN 1.768925
BAM 1.955574
BBD 2.102957
BDT 124.465633
BGN 1.955296
BHD 0.392555
BIF 3076.644867
BMD 1.04183
BND 1.403838
BOB 7.197169
BRL 6.043616
BSD 1.04158
BTN 87.914552
BWP 14.229358
BYN 3.408607
BYR 20419.862965
BZD 2.099458
CAD 1.456197
CDF 2991.093261
CHF 0.930624
CLF 0.036923
CLP 1018.831698
CNY 7.545955
CNH 7.559141
COP 4573.372102
CRC 530.538761
CUC 1.04183
CUP 27.608488
CVE 110.252274
CZK 25.306722
DJF 185.47859
DKK 7.457725
DOP 62.772754
DZD 139.835859
EGP 51.650195
ERN 15.627446
ETB 127.508482
FJD 2.371152
FKP 0.822334
GBP 0.831137
GEL 2.854575
GGP 0.822334
GHS 16.4561
GIP 0.822334
GMD 73.969495
GNF 8977.963687
GTQ 8.040072
GYD 217.904848
HKD 8.10981
HNL 26.320962
HRK 7.431641
HTG 136.724218
HUF 410.920048
IDR 16610.464601
ILS 3.856615
IMP 0.822334
INR 87.968197
IQD 1364.442504
IRR 43834.985936
ISK 145.522363
JEP 0.822334
JMD 165.930847
JOD 0.738756
JPY 161.24407
KES 134.88443
KGS 90.11281
KHR 4193.515949
KMF 492.261294
KPW 937.646374
KRW 1463.260366
KWD 0.320727
KYD 0.868
KZT 520.05997
LAK 22878.359185
LBP 93271.23384
LKR 303.145008
LRD 187.9983
LSL 18.79533
LTL 3.076253
LVL 0.630192
LYD 5.086413
MAD 10.478091
MDL 18.997807
MGA 4861.438851
MKD 61.522899
MMK 3383.822366
MNT 3540.137411
MOP 8.350936
MRU 41.443216
MUR 48.810137
MVR 16.1068
MWK 1806.091526
MXN 21.300719
MYR 4.654898
MZN 66.582998
NAD 18.79533
NGN 1767.669283
NIO 38.325576
NOK 11.541432
NPR 140.663763
NZD 1.785677
OMR 0.400944
PAB 1.04158
PEN 3.949544
PGK 4.193516
PHP 61.40439
PKR 289.239713
PLN 4.332887
PYG 8131.061444
QAR 3.798562
RON 4.980248
RSD 116.991496
RUB 108.510536
RWF 1421.83588
SAR 3.911475
SBD 8.734237
SCR 14.271984
SDG 626.658476
SEK 11.49581
SGD 1.402926
SHP 0.822334
SLE 23.680862
SLL 21846.653733
SOS 595.231293
SRD 36.978666
STD 21563.772237
SVC 9.113948
SYP 2617.628337
SZL 18.788831
THB 36.0395
TJS 11.09252
TMT 3.646404
TND 3.309018
TOP 2.440069
TRY 35.958741
TTD 7.074183
TWD 33.946456
TZS 2770.580196
UAH 43.090026
UGX 3848.555767
USD 1.04183
UYU 44.294887
UZS 13362.457591
VES 48.506696
VND 26482.270241
VUV 123.688121
WST 2.908362
XAF 655.881293
XAG 0.033274
XAU 0.000384
XCD 2.815597
XDR 0.792309
XOF 655.881293
XPF 119.331742
YER 260.379266
ZAR 18.844783
ZMK 9377.714007
ZMW 28.772679
ZWL 335.468752
  • BCC

    3.4200

    143.78

    +2.38%

  • SCS

    0.2300

    13.27

    +1.73%

  • GSK

    0.2600

    33.96

    +0.77%

  • VOD

    0.1323

    8.73

    +1.52%

  • RYCEF

    -0.0100

    6.79

    -0.15%

  • RIO

    -0.2200

    62.35

    -0.35%

  • CMSC

    0.0320

    24.672

    +0.13%

  • RBGPF

    59.2400

    59.24

    +100%

  • BTI

    0.4000

    37.38

    +1.07%

  • NGG

    1.0296

    63.11

    +1.63%

  • BCE

    0.0900

    26.77

    +0.34%

  • JRI

    -0.0200

    13.21

    -0.15%

  • AZN

    1.3700

    65.63

    +2.09%

  • RELX

    0.9900

    46.75

    +2.12%

  • CMSD

    0.0150

    24.46

    +0.06%

  • BP

    0.2000

    29.72

    +0.67%

Pressure on frontline medics as Ukraine fights back
Pressure on frontline medics as Ukraine fights back / Photo: Anatolii STEPANOV - AFP

Pressure on frontline medics as Ukraine fights back

Ukraine's assault against Russian positions flanking the city of Bakhmut has triggered a surge in battlefield casualties and piled pressure on frontline medics.

Text size:

Accurate numbers of dead and injured are impossible to verify but Russia, which rarely confirms its losses, has admitted to losing 71 troops in three days -- a sign of intense combat.

Kyiv has not released casualty figures, but AFP journalists saw Ukrainian military medics at a "stabilisation point" near the front treating wounded soldiers.

Doctors fought to keep alive troops with head and chest wounds, severed limbs and catastrophic blood loss long enough to be transferred to hospital.

In brief pauses during a chaotic overnight shift, they explained the role of the 24th mechanised brigade's medical unit as Ukraine fights to drive the enemy out of the Donetsk region.

"This is a serious job," said a military surgeon named Bogdan, his face etched with fatigue and concern as teams intervened in clinic corridors to stabilise patients.

"It begins in the trenches, when brothers-in-arms supply tourniquets to each other, and combat medics are working," he told AFP.

- Working by torchlight -

He described how the troops, racing in light pick-ups and cars from the front, brave enemy fire to bring their wounded comrades for triage at the stabilisation point.

"And we also try to be as close as possible to the front line, to shorten the time of evacuation," he said.

"I don't want to say banal things, but there is no war without losses," he said. "These wounds lead to disabilities. And these are young people."

In rooms with windows, the surgeons and paramedics work by torchlight at night to avoid giving their position away to enemy spotters and drones.

On the plywood-covered floor, wads of blood-soaked bandages accumulate around gurneys and operating tables. A severed foot lies next to a bin overflowing with abandoned boots.

A doctor struggles to apply a catheter to a burly casualty with bandaged stumps where he once had an arm and a leg.

Many of the medics worked in civilian healthcare before the war. They said they are facing such intense scenes more and more since Russia's all-out invasion began 16 months ago.

- 'Blood and pain' -

"With time you learn how not to dwell on it. If you experience too much emotion, you cannot be effective. And that's why you operate more mechanically," said trauma specialist Yuriy.

"You just help one after another. But of course we have some moments. Now and again, something touches you and brings you these emotions."

Another medic, Nataliya, said she had seen colleagues succumb to stress within a month of working in a war-time hospital, while she kept going.

"I think every one of us here wishes it would end soon, because people are tired," she said.

"But we understand that it's not easy and it's not going to happen fast."

As Ukraine's long-anticipated offensive apparently gets under way, both its foreign allies and civilians have to be patient and respect the sacrifices of the troops, Yuriy agreed.

Ukrainians "wait for a counteroffensive and for when they can go back to their previous lives. But it's heavy losses. It's a lot of blood and pain," he said.

"You shouldn't be overwhelmed with euphoria. This is a huge and difficult war."

W.Darwish--DT