Ukraine: Soldiers on the front have little hope of peace
As soon as it gets dark outside, the first wounded soldiers arrive, their faces and hands black with dirt. They arrive from a section of the front near Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine, one of Ukraine's main defensive strongholds and a key logistics hub in the Donetsk region.
They have come to seek help at a stabilization point, one of dozens of centers that have been set up along the front to provide soldiers with medical care.
Here too, politics is a big topic of debate. Referring to the ceasefire negotiations that began in Saudi Arabia on March 11, a military doctor named Ivan says they have had "no impact on the war" between Russia and Ukraine. He says he would be glad if "it all ended quickly."
"At least for one day. That would already be good."
A seriously injured soldier lies on the operating table. Both his legs were fractured when the armored carrier he was travelling in hit a landmine. His four other comrades escaped with a concussion. It took two hours for them to be evacuated.
Ivan dresses the semi-conscious man's wounds, while the paramedics encourage him to wipe the dirt from his face. "We saved his leg," says one of them with relief.
The next morning, the doctors doze after a difficult night. The stabilization point........
© Deutsche Welle
