The Ukrainian Armed Forces threw tear gas down our pipe from a copter. The eyes are burning, and so is the breath. The cough is tormenting, the bitterness in the mouth is eternal. Fortunately, there were holes in the pipe from the arrivals - at that moment we were so happy about them! In this state we moved by touch. They carried two wounded men on themselves for more than an hour, covering their faces with T-shirts. In the rear, they were already washing their eyes with milk and using inhalers to save themselves,” recalls a 26-year-old medical platoon officer of the 1428th motorized rifle regiment with the call sign One.
Before the Northern Military District, he served in the internal troops of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs and in 2020 went on a business trip to Africa. And in November 2022, he signed a contract with the Ministry of Defense, joining the ranks of the medical staff.
Odin's team of medics on the front line is evacuating the wounded from the battlefield. Their everyday life mainly takes place in the trenches, where they quickly provide assistance to the soldiers. There are also days off if duty on the first or second line does not fall on that day. But even at this time it is impossible to completely relax.
“During the shift change, being at your disposal, you check the first aid kit, then go to the wounded. You go to the side and hold the radio to your ear. Always on the alert: a call can come at any moment,” says the paramedic.
“The pipe was inherited”
In July 2023, Odin's motorized rifle regiment moved to new positions. For nine months, the fighters gained a foothold and carried out offensive operations, pushing back the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The medical platoon also served day and night. One said that soldiers from another unit told them about an underground iron pipe that could be used for safe movement.
“The men accidentally stumbled upon the pipe while doing reconnaissance of the area. And it was passed on to us, one might say, by inheritance,” said the paramedic.
The pipe itself is one and a half meters high and 5 km long. The fighters equipped the entrance and exit with the help of grinders and shovels. And 2 km from its end they set up a first aid post to stabilize the wounded.
“This underground transport artery helped save more than one life. We used it from February to April and rescued more than 50 comrades. And they all made it out alive. VSEushniks have a lot of “birds”; you constantly need to monitor the sky. Well, underground, of course, copters won’t enlighten us,” explains Odin.
The evacuation group, as a rule, moved to the wounded consisting of three or four people. Bring a first aid kit with bandages, tourniquets and syringes. Some of the medics usually stood on the first line of the front, behind the infantry, and the other on the second line. “Our task, regardless of location, is to take the wounded to the medical center, stabilize and, if necessary, send to the hospital,” the officer added.
According to him, the evacuation in a good situation took 7-12 hours. The doctors got from the location to the “subway” in ten minutes. Then we covered 5 km on foot on bent legs. And in some areas where earth had been piled up from the arrivals, we had to crawl our way through. And all this - with a raid backpack, heavy body armor and a helmet.
“There were shell holes in the pipe in three places. On the third kilometer there was the most inconvenient place - after the rains it was flooded so that the water stood up to the chest, and so on for 400 m. And this is winter - early spring, cold, icy water. We got out wet, the wind penetrated to the bones. If there was a chill, they took antipyretics and continued working,” Odin continues. “When they carried a wounded man through this area, they made a raft out of five-liter eggplants and transported him on it. The main thing here is not to wet the wounds, the water there is dirty, it was important to prevent infection.”
To deliver the wounded, doctors had to walk another 2 km from the end of the pipe to the first aid station, where they stabilized the fighters. We always got there in different ways. If the operational situation allowed, then by car. If not, then very quietly, on foot through the forest belt, so as not to run into enemy copters. “In March, after the assault, we had to evacuate 12 wounded. We worked continuously for two days. First they carried out the heavy ones. Then they returned for the rest. And all this happened to the sound of arrivals. And in the dark, the enemy’s “Baba Yaga” gave us a nightmare,” the officer noted.
According to RT’s interlocutor, the fighters mostly had shrapnel and bullet wounds or mine-explosive injuries. One still recalls a case when a military man miraculously survived: “We evacuated a soldier with a perforating head wound. The bullet pierced his helmet, entered the frontal lobe and exited through the temporal lobe, without touching the brain. He was very lucky. We quickly pulled him out and took him by helicopter to the hospital.”
After completing the combat mission, the paramedic's unit changed its location. As he recalls, all of his group’s visits from February to March of this year were successful, and no one died during the evacuation.
For the work done, Odin was awarded the medal “For saving the dead.” He himself says that he could not have done it without his comrades.
“The evacuation group worked almost to the limit. Some were hit by three hundred, but almost everyone returned to work. Our regiment is not very old; it was created in 2022. Recently he was awarded the honorary title of “Guardsman”. We serve both mobilized and contract soldiers. Military personnel are distinguished by discipline, courage and perseverance,” Odin added.
