Editor’s note: The Kyiv Independent is not disclosing the full names of the soldiers introduced in the story, as they didn’t have a formal authorization to speak to the press. DONETSK OBLAST – Mykhailo arrived at a dugout less than an hour after it was hit by Russian drones.

The main reason for the absence of medical evacuation is simple and gruesome: The fighting is just too intense.

It can take a day or even two for soldiers to get in and out of the fiercest fighting spots – killing any hopes of medics coming to save the wounded.

Left alone at the positions, the soldiers often have to pull out their comrades on their own under heavy shelling, sometimes walking five to seven kilometers to the nearest evacuation points, where vehicles take them to makeshift hospitals.

When soldiers carry their wounded out, the group is easy to spot – and it immediately becomes easy prey to Russian first-person view (FPV) drones and artillery.

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