It roars as a Ukrainian fighter jet whizzes past the field hospital.
It flies low over the rooftops. It is probably on its way to bomb Russian positions on the front line which are nearby.
Undeterred, Oleana continues to prepare the mobile operating room. She has been told that an ambulance is on its way here with another soldier who has been injured in the trenches.
PREPARING: A new patient is on the way and Oleana is getting the operating theater ready. Photo: Bent Skjærstad / TV 2
– We have up to 50 patients daily. It can be amputation of an arm, amputation of a foot. They can be seriously injured, unconscious, says operating room nurse Oleana TV 2.
A year ago, she lived a safe and happy life in Italy.
But when the Russians attacked her country, Oleana immediately returned home.
– When the war started, I returned home to Ukraine. I went straight and enlisted, and after a month I was out in the field, she says.
Now she saves the lives of soldiers and civilians at the front in eastern Ukraine.
MINUTES FROM THE FRONTLINE: Wounded soldiers are hurriedly picked up from the frontline and transported to the mobile operating theater to be stabilized. Photo: Bent Skjærstad / TV 2
– Relax my friend, we’ve got you, says one of the doctors as he examines the gaping wound the soldier has on the upper part of his thigh.
Shrapnel from an artillery shell has caused extensive damage.
This is today’s eighth patient Oleana and the team receive in the converted ambulance.
SHRAP INJURIES: The soldier was injured in an artillery attack near the town of Avdiivka. Within a short time he is sent on to a hospital in a safer area. Photo: Bent Skjærstad / TV 2
The operating unit has been built with the help of Norwegian funds and equipment.
– When the injured come here and I see their pain. When I see what they have done to them, it is appalling. Then I get scared and feel their pain, says Oleana.
HARD WORK: Oleana and the others in the team work around the clock to save lives. The impressions are many and strong. Photo: Oleksandr Techynskyi / TV 2
Has collected several tens of millions
Someone who knows well the pain that war brings is Anna Tribis.
LOST FRIEND: One of Anna Tribi’s good friends was killed in the war in Ukraine. Photo: Geir Johnny Huneide / TV 2
– Yesterday I lost one of my very good friends, and they were unable to save his life. But, this gives me inspiration to work further, to help more and I am so happy that we have the team that is standing by, the Ukrainian surgeon tells us.
We meet Anna in a warehouse, at Minde in Bergen, together with businessmen Tor Fredrik Müller and Paal Christian Mowinckel.
SENDING EQUIPMENT: The three initiators, (former) Anna Tribis, Tor Fredrik Müller and Paal Christian Mowinckel They are sending medical equipment to Ukraine. Photo: Geir Johnny Huneide / TV 2
– Strong to see, Müller says when TV 2 shows them footage of how soldiers are treated in the operating room in Ukraine.
It is these three, who, with the help of Norwegian donors, have ensured that it was built.
When the war started, they created HMM Health Aid Ukraine.
– We get pictures every day, where we see the horrible things happening down there. It is completely incomprehensible to us who have not experienced war. We can’t help but help, and if we can help save one life, that’s absolutely fantastic, says Müller.
The Ukrainian surgeon and the two business people from Bergen have used all their contacts, friends and acquaintances.
SENDING MORE: New equipment is being prepared. A new cargo will soon be sent to Ukraine Photo: Geir Johnny Huneide / TV 2
Good contacts and agreements through Haukeland University Hospital mean that the team can buy more equipment cheaper.
– We have sent 14 cars so far. It is very motivating. And then it is only medical equipment that we focus on, or vehicles for sanitation, says Müller.
Lasts as long as needed
Money for a new and larger operating theater has already been collected.
It has three operating tables and ensures that more people can be helped at the field hospital.
– In April, we have the large operating theatre, which we have enlisted the whole of Bergen’s business community to help with. It is brand new, says Müller.
The three of them, and the entire organization, are ready to continue with the help – as long as it is needed.
CONTINUES TO HELP: The joy of giving is great, says Paal Christian Mowinckel. Photo: Geir Johnny Huneide / TV 2
– We will continue as long as this is necessary. The more people we can bring in the better, then it works. We just have to make the most of it now, because now they need us more than ever, says Mowinckel when we ask how long they can last.
– It is my country and it is very important to me. As long as they stand there, we shall stand here. To the last drop of blood, it has already been decided, says Anna.
The war costs many lives
For a year, the doctors and nurses in Ukraine have worked around the clock to save the lives of both Ukrainian and Russian soldiers at the front.
HELPS EVERYONE: Doctors and nurses save both Ukrainian and Russian lives, says pediatrician Oleksandr (th). Photo: Oleksandr Techynskyi / TV 2
– It’s very tough. Even if you see it every day, you don’t get used to it. In every patient you see a human being. It is very tough, says Oleana.
Oleksandr was a pediatrician before the war. He made sure to send his family to safety before he himself enlisted and went to the front.
– It is extreme work. It is hard to look the injured soldiers in the eyes and they are in a tough situation. And we can’t help everyone.
He takes us to the garage that serves as a temporary morgue.
MORGUE IN THE GARAGE: On the wall hang belts that belonged to Russian and Ukrainian soldiers. Photo: Bent Skjærstad / TV 2
– Here hang the belts of several of those who have lost their lives, says Oleksandr and points to dozens of belts hanging on the wall.
They belong to both Russian and Ukrainian soldiers who survived long enough to be sent on.
– The great losses, the pain of our people, is just indescribable, says Oleana.
Killed six Russians
It’s getting dark and the ambulances just keep coming.
– There were 12 of them. I managed to shoot and kill six and wound two, says soldier Pavlo.
SHOOT AND KILLED SIX: Pavlo was injured shortly after he shot and killed six Russian soldiers who tried to storm the Ukrainian positions. Photo: Oleksandr Techynskyi / TV 2
He comes straight from the front shortly after he was in close combat with Russian soldiers.
– I got shot in the elbow and fell down. Changed the magazine, and then I was hit in the stomach. And then I was transported out, he says.
Incredibly, Pavlo only has minor injuries. The doctors patch him up quickly, and send him on to a hospital in a safer area.
In a short time he will probably be back in the trenches fighting.
