At the end of May 2022, the city of Mariupol fell into Russian hands, after weeks of resistance. A year after the end of the siege of the city, Alexandra and Evgen, hospital staff, recount this battle with emotion.
A year, like an eternity. At the end of May 2022, in Ukraine, the city of Mariupol was conquered by Russian troops, after weeks of resistance. The city is today largely in ruins and almost deserted. But Mariupol and the famous Azovstal factory, which housed in its basements hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers, have become one of the symbols of Russian violence, but also that of Ukrainian resistance.
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When Russia launches its invasion, Alexandra, 26, is stationed at the hospital in Mariupol, this port city in southern Ukraine. A year later, she suffers from post-traumatic stress, very violent migraines, consequences of the violent explosions at the heart of the war. She won’t be never the same again“, she confides, before slipping: ” How could I complain, when other guys come back with no arms and no legs?“.
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“Like on a seesaw because of the shock wave”
Evgen, in his sixties, explains: ” The number of injured increased catastrophically“. This army surgeon was also there throughout the offensive. And his story, he hardly ever told it. We are then at the end of March 2022, in Dnipro. The army asks the question: is a surgeon agree to join Mariupol?
At that moment, to say yes is to accept never to return. His mission: to operate on seriously injured bunkers in airless and constantly shelled bunkers. ” After some explosions, we were for a minute and a half, like on a seesaw, because of the shock wave“, he slips. ” I didn’t have enough time, I didn’t have enough material to stop the bleeding. So, to save lives, I had to amputate limbs that I wouldn’t normally have to amputate. I had no choice. I really had to amputate a lot of soldiers like this…”
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Arm-to-arm blood transfers
During operations, it is necessary to transfer blood directly, from arm to arm. The fighters who still have the strength to do so try to save the lives of their comrades. Evgen testifies to the violence of the relentless fighting: ” The density of the Russian fire was so strong that it was often impossible to evacuate the seriously wounded from their position and bring them back to us. Imagine: soldiers with tourniquets on their lower limbs for ten days, blocked because they could no longer leave their position… Imagine the state of their legs after that!
At the end of May, after weeks of resistance, the last Ukrainian soldiers in Azovstal surrendered to Russian forces. Alexandra and Evgen are then taken prisoner, before spending nearly five months in Russian prisons. Most of their companions are still in prison. But both, outside, claim to continue to serve their country, despite their post-traumatic stress.
One year after the end of the siege of Mariupol, caregivers remember hell – Report by Maurine Mercier.
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