British journalist Jerome Starkey visited a field hospital in eastern Ukraine, where doctors and nurses fight daily to save the wounded. Despite the constant threat of shelling, they continue working, performing surgeries and stabilizing patients. This photo gallery captures their daily reality—without unnecessary words, through details that speak for themselves.
The hospital is hidden underground, making it harder to detect and target with airstrikes or artillery. In the narrow, dimly lit corridors, doctors and nurses work tirelessly, stabilizing the wounded and performing surgeries. No street sounds reach this place—only the hum of medical equipment, the voices of staff, and the groans of the injured. Everyone is focused on one thing—saving lives.
An underground field hospital where medics provide care for wounded soldiers in eastern Ukraine. February 26, 2025.
Medics provide emergency care to a severely wounded soldier at a mobile field hospital (stabilization point) operated by Ukraine’s 59th Brigade near the frontline in eastern Donetsk region. The soldier sustained severe burns and shrapnel wounds from a Russian drone explosion. February 26, 2025.
Ukrainian medics at an underground stabilization point in eastern Ukraine.
Yuriy, 52, a wounded soldier from Ukraine’s 66th Brigade, arrives at the stabilization point after being injured in Donetsk region. February 27, 2025.
Ukrainian soldiers Yuriy, 52 (left), and Andriy, 41 (right), recount how they were wounded during a Russian assault on the northeastern sector of the front in Donetsk region. February 27, 2025.
Yuriy, a toolmaker in civilian life, and Andriy, a former chef, were partially blinded by a hand grenade explosion when Russian soldiers attacked their trench. Andriy said that his comrades managed to repel the assault. He also noted that he spent about 16 days on the "zero line"—the closest position to Russian forces.
At the beginning of the war, soldier rotations occurred approximately every three days. When Andriy, a grandfather of three, was drafted in August 2024, the duration of frontline deployments had increased to a week. Since then, it has more than doubled—16 days has become the norm as Ukraine struggles to replenish battlefield losses.
Yuriy prepares to leave the stabilization point after being wounded. February 27, 2025.
A child's drawing in the hospital.
Inscription on the drawing: God save Ukraine!
Cities of Ukraine during the war
Cities of Ukraine that no longer exist
The impact of Russia’s War on frontline towns
Ukrainian Volunteers Recover the Remains of Russian Soldiers to Exchange for the Bodies of Fallen Ukrainian Troops
Footage of the Search Operation in Donetsk Region
Kharkiv during the war
What the city, daily terrorized by Russia, looks like and how it survives
