Ukrainian medical teams risk lives to help wounded soldiers on frontline

ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine

Ukrainian medical teams working on the country's Zaporizhzhia front are risking their lives to provide first aid to soldiers injured in clashes with Russian forces.

“I have been on the frontline for a year and a half. It is psychologically difficult to do this job. But we have to do this. Our priority is to quickly remove the wounded soldiers (from the frontline) and provide first aid,” a Ukrainian commander, codenamed Yozhik, told Anadolu in an interview.

Yozhik, who commands a medical battalion affiliated with the 65th Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, said they are responsible for providing first aid and evacuating injured soldiers from the war front.

Yozhik further said that reaching the injured soldiers quickly is a priority for them, indicating that after providing first aid, they evacuate the wounded soldiers to a safer area and hand them over to other teams that transport them to stabilization centers or hospitals.

“Our team always stays in the trenches. We only leave to help the wounded,” Yozhik said, adding that they generally stay in the trenches for security reasons.

He said they use lighter, non-armored, 4x4 vehicles to move very fast in such situations.

“Our teams are always on duty. We work day and night. We do not have days off,” he said.

An ambulance driver, codenamed Opel, told Anadolu he used an all-terrain vehicle as an ambulance on the frontline, adding that carrying the wounded soldiers was not psychologically easy.

“I am on duty on the Zaporizhzhia front. Intense shooting continues here from both sides. After all, this is a war. We must always be careful. As we talk, we are under attack,” Opel said.

Noting that it is necessary to drive very quickly and carefully in mined areas, Opel said the technical condition of the vehicles should always be good.

“Once, I had a concussion as a result of a mine explosion. We were under a Grad (multiple rocket launcher) attack in Orikhiv and I was hit by shrapnel. This is our life,” he recounted.

*Writing by Burc Eruygur in Istanbul