Above a pair of double doors, a digital screen in Ukrainian flashes the words “attention” and “operation.” Inside, three surgical spaces of various sizes are occupied by three male patients. The doors to the rooms are open, allowing a handful of other healthcare professionals to move quickly from one room to another. They respond to their names or the sounding alarm of medical equipment.
Dr. Igor Lozhkin occupies the largest room, where his patient’s snoring can be heard over the running water. Speaking in English, the Ukrainian traumatologist explains that the team is cleaning debris from a wound on the soldier’s lower leg. A cement mixture will be used as a temporary fix for the fractured tibia until another surgery can be performed. Bone from another part of the patient’s body, such as the pelvis, will be used as a graft.
“It’s actually not a major injury,” says Dr. Lozhkin, noting that they see much worse cases on a daily basis. In the 16 months since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, trauma surgeons and their teams have been overwhelmed. Soldiers are brought to this medical center in the Kyiv region after they have been stabilized on the front lines.
“One surgery can last from 8 a.m. to 5 a.m.,” says Dr. Lozhkin, explaining that the number of operations he performs depends on the severity of the injuries. There have been days where he has operated on 10 different patients. “Ten patients in civilian life may not seem like much, but in combat trauma, you have to monitor all indicators,” he explains.
Anesthesiologist Dmitro Sukhomovskiy is one of the staff members constantly moving between the three operating rooms to check on the patients. “Yeah, always busy. Everybody stays here and works for our guys,” says Sukhomovskiy. He also completed a rotation near the front lines and recalls how it was even busier in the Donetsk region, where there were many badly wounded citizens and soldiers. “At first, it was very difficult because we only slept for two hours a day,” he adds.
The Ukrainian government does not publish official information on the number of soldiers killed or wounded. However, leaked American intelligence documents in April claimed that 354,000 Russian and Ukrainian soldiers have been killed or injured since Feb. 24, 2022. One of the bloodiest battles of the war is currently taking place around the city of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated in May that Russian forces had “completely destroyed” the city, although this claim was disputed by Ukrainian officials.
Battles in Bakhmut range from close-quarter trench combat to artillery duels. Ukrainian soldier Stepan Barash, speaking through a translator in a different ward of the military hospital, recounts being ordered to hold back the Russians in Bakhmut on April 3. He was injured during a mortar attack on May 9, injuring his back and arm. Barash describes constant enemy fire and recalls the unsettling feeling when incendiary shells illuminated the surroundings, making it feel like being in hell.
Barash, 47, has been told his injuries will take several months to heal, but he plans to return to the frontlines as soon as he is deemed fit. For the doctors and medical professionals caring for combat casualties, the relentless pace continues. Dr. Lozhkink emphasizes that he doesn’t have time to dwell on the personal toll. “When we work on a wound in the operating room, we just concentrate on it and do what we must do,” he says. “We can think about other things after work and that’s when the sad emotions come. But for now, we remain calm and focused.”
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