Victims of the conflict in Ukraine shared the war's profound impact as we visited city hospitals close to the frontline, nearly three years after Russia began its full-scale invasion.
The Mirror has been given exclusive access to how fearless medics are caring for the wounded in Zaporizhia, just 25 miles from the worst of the fighting. Among those providing aid are Britons risking their lives working in the conflict zone as part of a charity operation in a region partly occupied by Vladimir Putin's forces.
A British nurse spoke about the injuries she treats, sharing with us the stories of her patients: “It's a husband or someone's son. So it touches me so much, thinking, what can we do? By fixing the bone, I feel like we can give him a little bit of life…”
Our visit to the war-torn country coincides with Monday, the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which has resulted in the seizure of large swathes of territory. The United States has been a significant sponsor of Ukraine’s defense, but Donald Trump’s arrival in the White House has changed Washington’s stance.
Earlier this month, the US president announced that peace talks with Russia had begun, and then mistakenly called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a “dictator”. In Zaporizhia, Mirror saw the huge cost of the conflict for ordinary citizens.
At one hospital, we met a wounded security officer who was injured in an attack last month that killed 13 people and injured more than 100 in the city. We also spoke to a jeweler who was badly damaged by an explosion a few days ago while stopping for a smoke.
At another hospital in the city, a factory worker told how his leg was amputated after being wounded in an attack in Mariupol, a city that fell to the Kremlin in mid-2022 after a long siege. Meanwhile, a 23-year-old Ukrainian nurse whose boyfriend serves in the army gave a moving account of her escape from the occupied territories.
Grandfather Vasyl Gubka was wounded during the January 8 attack on the city. Lying in his hospital bed, Vasyl recalled the horror that took place at the factory where he worked as a security guard. “I was wounded after the first bomb,” explained the married 59-year-old.
“For the first second I didn't understand what had happened. Then I sat up and saw that my leg was twisted the other way. My leg was only held on by muscles… I took a belt and tried to help myself [probably like a tourniquet].” He said his leg was “bleeding profusely.”
Vasil asked our translator to get the gist of it: “Please translate, he was only holding on with his muscles.” He added: “I just couldn't understand anything. Half a second, and everything around me was flying and falling. Pipes, slabs, bricks. I can't even say what exactly hurt my leg.”
The second attack happened, and Vasil, who has two daughters and a grandson, explained: “A woman sat next to me, leaned over me and shielded me from the second blast. Then our guards came, took the door [to use as a stretcher] and carried me to the traffic lights. There was me and another man… and then a police car arrived because it was difficult for the ambulance to get closer.”
Vasil broke two bones in his leg. “I'm missing 7cm of bone,” he said. He has already undergone five surgeries, with more expected. “The doctors are fighting to save my leg.” His wife visits him every day, he said, adding: “The most important thing is not to lose heart, to believe in the best.”
Down the hall, in another room, Ruslan Tennyukh lay in bed, his leg in bad shape too. The married 51-year-old jeweler had stopped for a smoke on his way home from work – and almost died. A guided bomb had fallen just 20 metres from him. He told us about the moment on 6 January: “I remember only the flash, that’s all. Then I woke up here in the hospital.”
Ruslan suffered a fracture from the shrapnel. “I lost part of the muscle,” explained the father, who has a 17-year-old son. “The shrapnel went in 7 cm deep and I had a shattered bone. I also had shrapnel in my back and my other leg.”
The recovery has been lengthy; he has had four surgeries and is due for a fifth. An avid fisherman who wants to return
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