It usually takes 20 to 40 minutes to evacuate soldiers from the front line via one of the team’s five drivers, but the wounded sometimes find themselves waiting for up to two hours if the fighting doesn’t stop.
This was the case as recently as late February, when soldiers Ruslan and Serhiy were brought in for treatment at a facility filled with heavy sand after being fired upon by a Russian tank.
Neither suffered life-threatening injuries, although Ruslan’s right leg was wounded. Victor’s team, which belongs to the 72nd Mechanized Brigade, believe they bore the brunt of the hit, helping to ensure Serhi walked away with only a broken arm.
The adrenaline helps keep the medical team going and enables them to deal with an almost constant flow of wounded soldiers, including some Russians who were later exchanged for Ukrainian prisoners.
“This is our job,” Victor said from inside his outpost, which is decorated with Ukrainian flags and pictures and thank-you notes from children across the country.
“We know what we signed up for.”