Hell, horror and heroism in Ukraine’s battlefield hospitals
The gruesome lessons its doctors are learning reveal the nature of war in the 21st century
CUT DEEP into the innards of the southern front, Ukraine’s first underground hospital feels like something out of a James Bond movie. State-of-the-art gadgetry begins with admissions. Wounded soldiers arrive directly from the battlefield: in cars, in ambulances, on quad bikes. They are assessed and colour-coded into modules by urgency: “red zone” cases for immediate operations, “yellow zone” for other treatment. Alongside an operating theatre, enclosed in steel barrels several metres below ground level, is an intensive-care unit. There is even a laboratory for blood tests. The centre is set up for sophisticated operations: bone repair, soft-tissue reconstruction, arterial bypass surgery.
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This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “Combat and casualties”
Europe November 9th 2024
From the November 9th 2024 edition
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