The fighting for Chernihiv, the center of the region bordering Belarus and Russia, from where Russian troops invaded Ukraine, began on February 24. The city was not captured by the Russian army, but by early April it was under siege and constantly under fire. Another part of the Public project about doctors at war is about the doctors of the Chernihiv City Hospital. They talked about how they became a military hospital, worked without water and heating, and performed operations under the light of lanterns.

February 24 was supposed to be a regular Thursday for Vladislav Kukhar, the chief physician of the Chernihiv City Hospital №2. The man was planning a weekend, and as a deputy of the city council was preparing for the next session, which was to begin on Monday.

“In the morning we heard loud explosions, sirens sounded in the city. My wife and I turned on the TV immediately, realized that the war had begun. I went to work and never left the hospital. The next fifty days merged into one endless day.

The first wounded appeared in our hospital almost immediately. The medical staff quickly orientated themselves, but the biggest problems began when the light, water, heat disappeared, and the connection disappeared. People began to leave the city, including medical workers, including those who worked in the hospital. Some simply disappeared without warning. This was one of the most painful problems. Everyone has their own story, situation, I do not condemn anyone. Instead, the war exposed many of the remaining colleagues, gritted their teeth and did all the hard work. In the end, we worked with half of the team, half left.

“When the heat disappeared, they went to bed in hats and shoes. The patients were covered with two or three blankets. If they managed to heat some water in the kettles, they warmed people with bottles of warm water.”