• A steady stream of Ukraine’s fittest bodies are carried to a trauma hospital in Kramatorsk.
• They were wounded in the struggle for Bakhmut.
• Dr. Vitaly Malanchuk assesses the men’s injuries first.

A steady stream of Ukraine’s fittest bodies are carried to a trauma hospital in Kramatorsk on Wednesday after being wounded in the struggle for Bakhmut.

They were the adrenaline-pumped vanguard of the Ukrainian army’s attempt to take on Russian troops, including mercenaries. They’re cold and pale as they await surgery.

Dr. Vitaly Malanchuk assesses the men’s injuries first.

“Shrapnel and bullet wounds,” he says. People with lost limbs and facial abnormalities… Polytrauma involves several organs.”

Polytrauma means multiple bodily holes.

The surgical team has treated 100 patients a day and operated on half of them. It’s dangerous job, undertaken 30 km from Russian-held territory. When air raid alerts ring, there’s no time to hide.

Only tape on the glass seems to prevent explosion damage.

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