Six Metres Below Ground, a Secret Hospital Treats Ukraine's Soldiers Injured by Russian Drones

Sparse trees conceal the entrance. One descending timber passageway descends to a brightly lit welcome zone. Inside lies a operating ward, outfitted with beds, cardiac monitors and breathing machines. And shelves stocked of healthcare supplies, drugs and organized stacks of spare clothes. Within a break area with a washing machine and kettle, doctors keep an eye on a screen. It shows the movements of Russian surveillance UAVs as they weave in the air above.

Welcome to the nation's secret underground medical facility. This center began operations in August and is the second of its kind, situated in the eastern part of the country not far from the combat zone and the city of a key location in Donetsk oblast. “We are six meters under the earth. This is the most secure method of delivering care to our wounded soldiers. And it keeps healthcare workers protected,” said the facility's surgeon, Maj the chief surgeon.

This medical station treats 30-40 patients a each day. Their conditions vary. Certain individuals suffer from devastating leg injuries necessitating amputations, or serious abdominal injuries. Others can walk. The vast majority are the victims of enemy first-person view (FPV) aerial devices, which drop explosives with deadly accuracy. “90% of our patients are from FPVs. We encounter minimal gunshot wounds. It’s an era of unmanned aircraft and a different kind of war,” the doctor said.

During one day recently, a group of three military members walked with difficulty into the facility. The least severely hurt, 28-year-old one soldier, reported an FPV blast had ripped a small hole in his leg. “War is terrible. The guy beside me, Vasyl, was killed,” he stated. “He collapsed. Then the Russians dropped a second grenade on him.” He continued: “All structures in the village is destroyed. We see UAVs everywhere and casualties. Ours and theirs.”

The soldier said his squad spent over a month in a wooded zone close to the city, which Russia has been attempting to capture for many months. Sole access to get to their position was by walking. Necessary provisions came by drone: rations and drinking water. A week following he was injured, he traveled five kilometers (roughly three miles), requiring several hours, to a point where an military transport was able to pick him up. Upon arrival, a medic checked his physical condition. Following care, a medical attendant provided him with fresh civilian clothes: a T-shirt and a set of light-colored jeans.

A different casualty, 38-year-old Pavlo Filipchuk, said a drone blast had left him with concussion. “My position was in a trench shelter. Suddenly it became black. I couldn’t feel any feeling or any sound,” he explained. “I believe I was lucky to survive. A relative has been killed. We face ongoing detonations.” A construction worker working in a neighboring country, Filipchuk noted he had returned to Ukraine and volunteered to fight days before Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.

A third soldier, Taras Mykolaichuk, had been struck in the upper body. He expressed pain as medical staff placed him on a bed, removed a bloody dressing and treated his recent shrapnel wound. Wrapped in a foil blanket, he borrowed a mobile phone to call his family member. “A fragment of artillery hit me. It was a ricochet. My condition is stable,” he told her. What were his plans now? “To recover. This may require a several months. After that, to go back to my unit. Our forces must defend our nation,” he said.

Since 2022, enemy forces has consistently targeted hospitals, health facilities, obstetric units and emergency vehicles. According to human rights groups, 261 medical personnel have been fatally attacked in nearly 2,000 assaults. The underground facility is constructed from four steel bunkers, with timber beams, soil and sand laid on top up to ground level. It can withstand impacts from large-caliber projectiles and even three 8kg explosive devices dropped by drone.

The Ukrainian industrial group, which funded the building, plans to erect 20 units in total. The head of the nation's national security council and ex- military leader, the official, said they would be “critically important for preserving the lives of our military and supporting defenders on the frontline.” The company described the project as the “most ambitious and challenging” it had implemented since Russia’s invasion.

Holovashchenko, explained some wounded personnel had to wait many hours or even days before they could be transported because of the threat of aerial attacks. “Our facility received two severely injured patients who came at 3am. I had to carry out a removal of both limbs on one of them. The soldier's bleeding control device had been applied for such an extended period there was no other option.” How did he cope with severe operations? “My career in healthcare for 20 years. One must focus,” he remarked.

Medical assistants transported the soldier up the passage and into an emergency vehicle. The transport was stationed under a bush. He and the two other soldiers were transferred to the city of Dnipro for additional medical care. The subterranean hospital staff took a break. The hospital’s orange feline, the mascot, walked up to the entrance to greet the next arrivals. “We are active 24 hours a day,” the surgeon said. “It doesn’t stop.”