Ukraine, female doctor: “Many at the front, for the soldiers we are like talismans”

“Right now I am in a petrol station to fill up: I am in charge of having my car repaired which was damaged by an explosion, and on Saturday I will leave for Lisiansk and Severodonetsk, the hottest areas at the moment. We go to the places where there are the most injured, to do everything to save them “. She has a rubber band in the colors of her country, yellow and blue, which holds her hair and a military cap Olha Krokha Bashei, military paramedic in the Ukrainian army, while she speaks to Adnkronos in connection on Zoom from Kiev. His specialty is tactical medicine: “By tactical medicine we mean military medicine – he explains – In war zones it is first aid to wounded soldiers. We have the combat zone, the red zone, where the soldier is wounded, and in this area the first bandage must be applied to stop the blood. Then there is the yellow area, where we take the injured person immediately afterwards and proceed with the subsequent rescue. I teach just that. ” There are many women at the front, in different roles, she tells us. And he makes a distinction: “These two wars, that of 2014 and that of 2022, are very different. In this war in particular there are many women, and many who work as paramedics.” The relationship with the military is very close and collaborative. “The men at the front treat us like sisters – he reveals – they help us, they protect us, at the front for men women are the most important thing, we are like a talisman for them”. And she tells us about her first day in the trenches: “They looked after me, brought me their mats and made sure I had everything, food, rest – she says smiling – I found myself having to explain that I knew very well that we were in the middle of a war, I had my sleeping bag and I did not need them to worry, I would have done everything to be useful to the cause. “Fear in war is a common travel companion, but Olha is not a tender:” Who asks me if I have fear, I answer like this: if you go to the combat zone, you go there because you are not afraid, if you are afraid you don’t go there. Personally, I don’t have fear. my loved ones see what I have seen “. In her thirties, widowed (she lost her husband in 2005), Olha has no children but has many family affections to which she is very attached and who do not leave her for a second, at least virtually: “I have five grandchildren, 7 and 11 years old, and three more adults, one is in the army. I am in constant contact with them, with video calls, for them it is a great stress to know me at the front, it reassures them to hear me, we have never been so far away “. She, who has been at the front since 2014, explains some strategic differences between the two wars: “From a strategic point of view, they are very different. If, for example, in 2014 it was a battle of tanks and artillery, now there are rockets and bombs. This is the greatest difficulty, which is why Mariupol was razed to the ground. Otherwise we would already be closer to our borders and we would have already taken back what they have stolen from us “. As with many of her colleagues at the front, the hypothesis of a defeat is not contemplated, and the demand for weapons is incessant. “It is not easy, but if we are given the weapons this war will end as soon as possible, by New Year. And it will end with the recovery of our territories, from the Crimea to the Donbass”. Yes, because this war will end, Olha has her sources certain of her. “My grandchildren told me on the phone that we will win. The words of the children tell the truth. I believe it”. (By Ilaria Floris)