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Sparse foliage hide the entryway. One sloping timber tunnel descends to a well-illuminated reception area. There is a surgery unit, outfitted with gurneys, cardiac monitors and breathing machines. And shelves full of medical equipment, drugs and neat piles of extra garments. Within a staff room with a laundry appliance and hot water heater, physicians monitor a display. It shows the movements of enemy spy drones as they weave in the sky above.

Hospital personnel at an underground medical center observe a screen showing enemy suicide and surveillance drones in the region.

This is Ukraine’s secret underground medical facility. The facility began operations in the eighth month and is the second of its kind, located in the eastern part of the country not far from the frontline and the city of Pokrovsk in Donetsk oblast. “We are six meters below the earth. This is the safest method of providing help to our wounded soldiers. And it keeps healthcare workers protected,” said the clinic’s lead doctor, Maj Oleksandr Holovashchenko.

The stabilisation point treats 30-40 casualties a each day. Cases differ widely. Certain individuals suffer from catastrophic leg injuries necessitating surgical removal, or severe abdominal injuries. Others can move on their own. Almost all are the casualties of Russian first-person view (FPV) drones, which release grenades with deadly precision. “90% of our patients are from first-person view drones. We see few gunshot wounds. It’s an age of drones and a new type of war,” the surgeon explained.

Major Oleksandr Holovashchenko at the subterranean facility for treating injured troops in eastern Ukraine.

During one afternoon last week, a group of three military members limped into the hospital. The least severely hurt, twenty-eight-year-old Artem Dvorskyi, said an FPV blast had ripped a small hole in his limb. “War is terrible. The guy beside me, Vasyl, was killed,” he said. “He fell down. Subsequently the Russians released a second grenade on him.” He continued: “Everything in the village is destroyed. We see UAVs everywhere and bodies. Our side's and the enemy's.”

Dvorskyi explained his squad spent 43 days in a forest area near the city, which enemy forces has been attempting to capture for many months. The only way to reach their position was by walking. Necessary provisions came by drone: food and water. Seven days following he was hurt, he walked 5km (roughly three miles), requiring several hours, to a point where an military transport was able to evacuate him. Upon arrival, a medic checked his physical condition. After treatment, a nurse provided him with new civilian clothes: a shirt and a pair of pale jeans.

Artem Dvorskiy, 28, stated a first-person view drone ripped a small hole in his lower limb.

A different casualty, thirty-eight-year-old Pavlo Filipchuk, said a UAV explosion had resulted in concussion. “My position was in a dugout. Suddenly it went dark. I couldn’t feel any feeling or hear anything,” he explained. “I believe I was fortunate to remain alive. A relative has been killed. There are ongoing detonations.” A builder employed in a neighboring country, Filipchuk noted he had returned to his homeland and enlisted to fight shortly before the Russian leader's large-scale attack in February 2022.

Another military member, Taras Mykolaichuk, had been hit in the upper body. He expressed pain as medical staff placed him on a medical cot, took off a stained dressing and treated his two-day-old shrapnel wound. Wrapped in a thermal sheet, he used a mobile phone to ring his family member. “A piece of artillery hit me. It was a deflected projectile. I’m OK,” he told her. What were his plans now? “To get better. This may require a several months. Subsequently, to go back to my unit. Our forces has to defend our country,” he affirmed.

Medical staff care for the wounded soldier, who was injured in the back by a fragment of artillery shell.

Over the past years, Russia has repeatedly attacked medical centers, health facilities, maternity wards and emergency vehicles. Per human rights groups, over two hundred health workers have been killed in almost 2,000 attacks. This subterranean hospital is constructed from multiple reinforced shelters, with timber beams, soil and sand placed above reaching the surface. It can withstand direct hits from 152mm projectiles and even three eight-kilogram TNT charges released by aerial means.

The Ukrainian steel and mining company, which financed the building, intends to erect 20 facilities in all. A senior official of Ukraine’s national security council and ex- military leader, the official, declared they would be “vitally essential for preserving the lives of our armed forces and supporting defenders on the frontline.” The organization referred to the initiative as the “largest-scale and challenging” it had implemented since the enemy's invasion.

An example of the facility's operating theatres.

The surgeon, explained certain injured soldiers had to wait many hours or even days before they could be transported due to the threat of air assaults. “We had a pair of severely injured patients who came at the early hours. I had to carry out a removal of both limbs on a patient. His bleeding control device had been applied for such an extended period there was no other option.” What is his method with severe surgeries? “My career in healthcare for 20 years. One must focus,” he remarked.

Medical assistants transported Mykolaichuk up the tunnel and into an emergency vehicle. The transport was parked under a bush. He and the other military members were taken to the city of Dnipro for further treatment. The underground hospital staff paused for rest. The hospital’s orange feline, the mascot, walked up to the entrance to greet the next arrivals. “Our facility operates open around the clock,” the surgeon said. “The work is continuous.”