Doctor Igor jumps out of the ambulance calling for help. Three paramedics, stationed under the shade of trees that obscure the enemy's visibility, rush towards the vehicle to pull out a man who cannot support his right leg; he bleeds through the bandage. The cause was a piece of heavy metal, one of the thousands released by the rockets launched from the Russian side. Its outbursts are constant, some fall in the wheat fields that are devastated by fire without the few locals that remain being able to do anything to stop it. "It's nothing, he'll be back in a few days," says the relieved surgeon, director of the first battalion of the acclaimed 14th Brigade, which has fought on the main fronts since the beginning of the war.
Once the man has been evacuated to a hospital far from the front lines, Igor sits in the door of his green-painted ambulance, removes his helmet and lights a cigarette, still wearing blue surgical gloves. He says that this ritual of bringing the wounded here is repeated daily, although the volume never compares to what they had in May, when more than 100 people died and an average of 500 were injured. On the front they agree that the strategy has changed, and the number of deaths has been reduced considerably.
The goal, they say, is to prioritize the lives of combatants. “The Russians never carried out a break in their activities, as they claimed, but at the moment there is a positive dynamic. Our brigade defends the position and does not abandon it thanks to the appearance of Western weapons”, explains Dr. Igor. The arrival of the Himars and other long-range weapons have given a reprieve. “They are impressive,” says Roman, another member of the 14th Brigade. “They have a long range and help cover units on the ground,” he adds.
His appearance has had positive effects on the front, especially on a psychological level. Now the Russians take longer to supply their men with ammunition. They continue to attack, but not as intensely as weeks ago, and especially at strategic points. And his progress in recent days has been minimal. The morale boost among the Ukrainian troops as a result of the Russian withdrawal from the Kyiv region and Kharkiv province – where they were forced to retreat – was overshadowed by the difficulties they have faced in the battle for the Donbass.
Alexei wears a tiny teddy bear tied to the side of his vest. It belongs to his daughter. He was nearly killed five times in the struggle for control of Severodontsk and Lisichanks. He prefers not to go into details, but acknowledges that many of his companions are no longer there. The Russians “stopped in Kyiv, but not here... They are trying to slither across the ground like snakes, and we stop them. Because there is no other way, ”he says while resting in the rear of the Siverks city front, currently targeted by Kremlin forces. He has red eyes from little sleep, the nights are intense. This area is strategic for the Russians because it opens the way to the interior of the Donbass, especially the city of Bakhmut.
Alexei speaks little with his family, who live in the west of the country. But he has heard that some sectors, including the West, have doubts about the importance of sacrificing so many lives for the Donbass region, where part of the population that has chosen to stay supports the separatists. And another, especially the older ones who lived in the USSR, just want the war to end. They criticize both Kyiv and Moscow. "I have experienced worse things than this... don't make me talk, everyone is to blame here," says Sergei, an older man who lives in one of the towns in the area.
Volunteers bringing humanitarian aid to Siversk are often dejected by the belief that exists in the city, where Russian propaganda has taken its toll. In many parts of the area they only watch Moscow TV. A few days ago they threw some pamphlets with the face of Zelenski where it was read that the president was the one who dug the grave of the nation. Many of those who remain do not dare to take the humanitarian caravans because they are told that on the other side they are in danger, that they will be able to make them disappear and remove their organs. This adds to the belief that the constant attacks on the city, and which have been razing it to the ground, come from the Ukrainian side.
Commander Artur, of the Ukrainian emergency services in Bakhmut, assures that at the beginning this attitude hurt them, but now they pass. “My job is to help people,” he says after hearing the accusations of a man who was hit by a missile in his garage a few minutes ago. The men of the brigade put out the fire while he shouted that it had been the work of the Ukrainian forces.
“This was the Ukrainian forces. It was them. They did it so TV could come here and show it,” he yelled. That Tuesday afternoon a multiple attack reached the city. The missiles passed so low and so steadily that they looked like fireworks. This family's home was one of those affected, but so was a then-inoperative civilian clinic, the city's main cultural center, and a residential building where rocket fragments injured an elderly woman. The doctors made a tourniquet to save her life.
In Bakhmut there is awareness that the battle is drawing near. As in neighboring Slovianks. Both cities are linked by the M03 highway, also a target of Russian forces. And those who have decided to stay alone dare to go out in the morning. They do their shopping or collect the humanitarian aid that the emergency services distribute every time they receive a shipment. They cook in wood ovens as a result of power cuts.
“I still have hope that they can be stopped,” says Tatiana, the owner of a small shop frequented by the military. The shelves have been emptying, few distributors arrive. “My son is in the military and he fights here. My parents are old and cannot move. So I'll stay," she says smiling. But she admits that what worries him most is winter, then he will decide what to do. Like many others who have decided to wait until the end despite the authorities' insistence that they evacuate.
