An ambulance stops in front of the entrance to the emergency department of the military section of a hospital in the city of Kramatorsk.
A well-wrapped soldier is wheeled down the narrow corridor.
– Here we have a person with two splinters in the chest, says the ambulance worker to the doctor who receives them in the trauma room.
SPLINTED INJURIES: This patient has just arrived at the trauma unit at the hospital in Kramatorsk. Photo: Aage Aune / TV 2
Experienced medical hands immediately begin to sew up the patient.
– Can you hear me? ask the doctor.
The soldier is conscious, but his voice is weak.
– Yes.
– Can you turn over on your left side?
– No.
After a few minutes of examination, he is wheeled out for a CT X-ray.
CT X-RAY: Here there is one of the few CT machines in the area, and the military doctor can quickly make the diagnosis: A large shrapnel is located in the middle of the upper body, near the heart. Photo: Aage Aune / TV 2
Even to an untrained eye, the image that appears on the screen is unsettling. A clear shrapnel in the left lung shines towards us.
– I don’t like what I see, says the doctor.
– Send him straight to the operating theatre.
Big increase
No sooner has the soldier been sent off for surgery than a new soldier arrives at the hospital. Then one more. And one more. In less than half an hour, five soldiers are rushed in on stretchers.
– We bring in many. I cannot give you the exact number, but there are many, says hospital director Oleksij Yakovlenko.
OPERATIONS: After the first examination in the trauma department, the patients are taken straight to the operating theatre. Photo: Aage Aune / TV 2
The towns of Soledar and Bakhmut, which now form the epicenter of the war, are no more than an hour’s drive from Kramatorsk.
– The number of patients has risen recently. Both Soledar and Bakhmut are quite close, and we are one of the main hospitals for treating the injured, says Yakovlenko.
They do everything in their power to save as many as possible, but getting hold of all the medical equipment they need while the war rages is not easy.
– Right now, our greatest wish is an MRI machine. It is needed for patients who come in with multiple traumas and injuries to the head and vertebrae, says Yakovlenko.
WAR HOSPITAL: Oleksij Yakovlenko is experiencing a large increase in war injuries due to the fighting around Bakhmut. Photo: Aage Aune / TV 2
The hospital serves a radius of 100 kilometres, and every day the director feels the enormous responsibility of receiving patients in a good way while the war rages.
– It is difficult, but we take responsibility because as it is today, we are the only hospital in Donetsk county that can accept all kinds of injuries. Who would do it, if we didn’t exist? he asks.
According to figures from World Health Organization, WHO, the Russians have attacked 747 health facilities since the start of the invasion on February 24, 2022.
– Holds Bakhmut
Outside the trauma room, TV 2 meets ambulance worker “Ramasjka”, who is standing and tripping. “Ramasjka” is not her real name, but a military nickname.
HARD: The volunteer ambulance worker “Ramasjka” has been working in the war since 2014. An important job, but also a great strain. Photo: Aage Aune / TV 2
The 51-year-old has just arrived with a soldier and is now waiting to get her stretcher back so she can return to the battlefield.
– We have a real full-scale war. It is difficult. We have many injured, many amputations, head injuries. It is tough, she says.
Ramasjka has worked as a volunteer ambulance worker since the start of the war in 2014. Since the invasion on 24 February 2022, she has worked in the worst war zones, and is now deployed in and around the city of Bakhmut.
HEAD INJURY: The soldier that “Ramasjka” and his colleague brought to the hospital has a serious head injury. Photo: Aage Aune / TV 2
There, the fighting has raged for over five months.
– My feeling is that we will hold on to Bakhmut, even if it is difficult. It’s not just me who feels it, the boys we transport say it too. All of them, says Ramasjka.
Ukrainian authorities have released drone footage of a medical evacuation from the neighboring town of Soledar. The recordings must be made on Tuesday 10 January.
Great grief
Like so many others in Ukraine, Ramashka has also suffered personal losses. On the second day of the invasion, the husband was killed. The son is a soldier at the front, and the other family members have fled the country.
– The war has affected all families. Everyone knows someone who has lost their life, been injured or left the country. That’s the way it is in this country now, she says.
WIDOW: Her husband was a soldier and was killed shortly after the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022. Now she devotes her life to helping the wounded at the front in Donetsk county. Photo: Aage Aune / TV 2
Even though the 51-year-old has long war experience, the suffering gets to her.
– We witness a lot of grief. Each person killed and wounded represents someone else’s grief. The grief is always present, says Ramasjka.
She is nevertheless strong in the belief that Ukraine will win in the end, even if the situation is difficult.
CHILDREN’S DRAWINGS: At the emergency entrance of the hospital in Kramatorsk, someone has hung up children’s drawings to keep spirits up. These are difficult times for Ukraine. Photo: Aage Aune / TV 2
– This is a country that is in mourning and that is having a hard time, but is keeping its spirits up. This is our country. We are a country that believes in victory. We are confident that we will win.
TV 2 IN UKRAINE: Aage Aune and Hilde Gran in Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine. Photo: Oleksandr Techynskyi / TV 2
