Immersion in a hospital in Donbass, on the side controlled by the Russians

In Donbass, in the zone controlled by the Russians, a hospital is on the front line, a few kilometers from the front. The France Télévisions teams were able to film there, on condition of not revealing its exact location, for fear of shooting. The house of a man in his 70s was hit and his wife died. “She found herself under the rubble. She wanted to run to the bathroom when the explosion happened. I was told that her legs were broken.”testifies Viktor, an injured civilian.

More violent fighting for two years

In the next room, another civilian lost his leg. In Donbass, the war began in 2014. But for two years, the fighting has become even more violent and the injuries are even more serious. The hospital also welcomes Russian soldiers, who speak of fear. “We are humans like any other, everyone is afraid”, says, anonymously, a wounded Russian soldier. The wounded know that it is not excluded that they return to combat, to the front. “If it is obligatory, I will go back”, indicates Pavel, an injured mobilized soldier. In Russia, desertion is punishable by prison.