“Se un giorno tutto finisce, io e mia figlia vogliamo davvero fare un viaggio. Sogna di andare al mare. Ma … sono nei pantaloni militari. ” – Uliana, medico militare

Uliana, a combat medic with the 30th Brigade, says she originally trained in finance and worked in leadership positions. Just before the full-scale invasion, she was the Director of a chain of butcher shops.

Uliana married a man who also served in the 30th Brigade.

“In 2016, he was discharged due to a heart attack. When the full-scale war began, he wanted to return—he had been a combat medic. But since he already had a disability, he wasn’t accepted. So I told him, ‘Let me go instead, I really want to. I’ll carry on your spirit.’”

“My daughter—she’s 15, old enough to understand—was very supportive. She said, ‘Mom, I’m so proud of your decision.’ My husband passed away, and my daughter is now my biggest source of support.”

# “Most Injuries Are from FPV Drones”

Uliana recalls one particular evacuation during intense fighting.

“We had two crews. We arrived at the point, and it was genuinely terrifying—fighting was happening nearby. They handed me a wounded soldier. He was trembling all over, completely unresponsive. I quickly gave him medical care, and gradually, he started coming back. He began showing emotions and told me, ‘The moment I ended up in your hands, I felt like I was saved.’”

“The way you talk to them matters. If you start asking too much about the battlefield, they may react badly. So we approach them like a mother would a child, or a wife to a husband.”

# The Weight of War

The hardest part, she says, is seeing the same soldiers return, but worse off.

“There are some guys we’ve treated multiple times. First, they come in with minor injuries. Then, weeks or months later, they return with amputations. And you recognize them—you remember treating them, talking to them. And now they’re missing limbs. That really hits you.”

Uliana misses her daughter and home.

“Sometimes, the longing hits hard. When I visit on leave, my daughter cries when I go back. She’s still young—she wants her mom at home. I don’t judge anyone, but when you come back, it’s like a parallel universe. People are working, shopping, laughing… I don’t feel angry about it, but when they ask, ‘So, when will this all end?’ I just don’t respond.”

During rare free moments, she and the other female medics try to hold on to pieces of civilian life.

“We drink tea together, chat, try to think about normal things. Sometimes we look at dresses on our phones—‘Oh, that’s so pretty!’ And then we snap back—‘What dresses? We need military gear!’”

# A Dream for the Future

“If this all ends someday, my daughter and I really want to take a trip. She dreams of going to the sea. But…I am in military pants,” she laughs.

[https://suspilne.media/donbas/915999-tak-stvoreno-svitom-e-ludi-aki-ratuut-ak-lvivanka-z-30-i-brigadi-dopomagae-poranenim-bijcam-na-doneccini/](https://suspilne.media/donbas/915999-tak-stvoreno-svitom-e-ludi-aki-ratuut-ak-lvivanka-z-30-i-brigadi-dopomagae-poranenim-bijcam-na-doneccini/) 

Ugh. Cried reading this.