Ukraine’s front line medics reveal the toll of gruelling counteroffensive

Published

2 years ago

July 8, 2023

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In the woods, hidden from enemy drones, ambulances wait. Just the sound of birds and the distant rumble of artillery. Medics sit killing time. But never for long, as the casualties start coming.

Sky News had rare access to a field hospital behind Ukraine‘s front line. What we witnessed among the doctors and ambulance crews gave clues about the state of the war.

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It is not going as well as Ukraine had hoped. Its president said as much this week. Ukraine’s counteroffensive is becoming bogged down, stalling in the face of a well dug in enemy and huge numbers of mines.

“Everything here is mined,” Eugen, a doctor, told us.

“Most of these injuries are caused by artillery shelling, strikes and minefields our guys have to walk through.”

The counteroffensive started using NATO supplied armour, we were told. But anti-tank mines have blocked their advance, corroborating what British intelligence reported this week.

Fighting’s bloody toll

Now the fighting is mostly on foot. Infantry warfare, going trench to trench, and through fields thick with mines.

“When the infantry advances, it’s completely different,” said Eugen. “They walk on the ground with their feet where there are mines, and we get a lot of patients with amputations and with shrapnel injuries.”

That kind of fighting exacts a bloody toll. A soldier arrived from the front, his back peppered with shrapnel. We watched doctors pluck out pieces the size of golf balls.

Another had taken a hit from a mortar.

Doctors worked with infinite care to save his ligaments in an injury deep into his leg. The patient was a medic himself.

Vasyl told us he had only been on the front three days when the Russians attacked.

“It was a mortar attack,” he said. “We had just arrived and had to go to our position. We’re an assault brigade.

“We were supposed to go to the position, and drones started flying and bombing us.”

What was he thinking, we asked.

“That I wanted to get back home. To do my job and go back home.”

Then a red case arrived, as they call a patient with life-threatening injuries. Caught in an explosion, Anatoly was badly burned over half of his body.

“The condition of the patient is serious,” the doctor told us, “taking into account thermal burns – head, upper limbs, back completely, lower limbs. Well, the condition is critical.”

Will he be OK, we asked?

“Well, we always hope.”

He needed urgent intervention. After the vital work of stabilising him, he was transferred to an ambulance.

Aid group providing ambulances ‘needs more support’

The dangerous work of racing soldiers from behind the front line to military hospitals is not done by the army. A fleet of ambulances run by the aid organisation MOAS fills the role.

In a previous life it rescued refugees at sea in the Mediterranean and Aegean but has now switched fully to Ukraine.

Its ambulances are fast and small, ideal for dodging the dangers of war, customised with life-saving equipment.

Its founder is American entrepreneur and humanitarian Chris Catrambone, who has sunk millions of dollars of his own money into its work and persuaded others like him to follow. MOAS has stayed low profile during this conflict, but need more support now and gave Sky News exclusive access to its work.

Mr Catrambone said: “As the war goes on and on the needs are going to become more and more and that means qualified medical personnel equipment and things are wearing out.

“It’s moving. Things are needed to keep up the pace.”

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The work is perilous but essential. The MOAS ambulance carrying Anatoly finally reaches its destination, a military hospital with a specialist burns unit. It gives him the best chances of survival, we are told.

Ukraine does not reveal casualty figures and access to the front line is tightly restricted. But in a day’s filming behind the lines, we had a sense of what its soldiers are going through.

What is clear is the counteroffensive is not sweeping through Russian lines. It is heavy going.

A breakthrough cannot be taken for granted. What seems certain is a long hot summer of nasty warfare in trenches and minefields.

World

Buddhist monk sex scandal grips Thailand as woman arrested

Published

6 hours ago

July 17, 2025

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Buddhist monk sex scandal grips Thailand as woman arrested

A sex scandal has rocked Thailand’s Buddhist clergy after a woman allegedly enticed a string of monks into having sex with her and then blackmailed them.

At least nine abbots and senior monks have been disrobed and cast out of the monkhood, the Royal Thai Police Central Investigation Bureau said.

Wilawan Emsawat, in her mid-30s, is accused of enticing senior monks into having sex with her and then pressuring them into making large payments to cover it up.

Thai monks are largely members of the Theravada sect, which requires them to be celibate and refrain from even touching a woman.

Several monks transferred large amounts of money after Wilawan initiated romantic relationships with them, police said -her bank accounts received around 385 million baht (£8.8m) in the past three years, with most of that spent on gambling websites.

Wilawan was arrested at her home in Nonthaburi province, north of the capital Bangkok, on charges including extortion, money laundering and receiving stolen goods.

Thai media reported a search of her mobile phones revealed tens of thousands of photos and videos, as well as numerous chat logs indicating intimacy with several monks, many of which could be used for blackmail.

An investigation was launched last month after an abbot of a famous temple in Bangkok abruptly left the monkhood.

He had allegedly been blackmailed by Wilawan over their romantic relationship, investigators found.

She told the monk she was pregnant and asked him to pay her 7.2 million baht (£165,000), Jaroonkiat Pankaew, a Central Investigation Bureau deputy commissioner, said at a news conference in Bangkok on Tuesday.

Acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai ordered authorities to review and consider tightening existing laws related to monks and temples, especially the transparency of temple finances, to restore faith in Buddhism, government spokesperson Jirayu Houngsub said on Tuesday.

The Central Investigation Bureau has set up a Facebook page for people to report monks who misbehave, Mr Jaroonkiat said.

“We will investigate monks across the country,” he said. “I believe that the ripple effects of this investigation will lead to a lot of changes.”

World

Tomorrowland: ‘Devastating’ blaze destroys main stage at major festival – two days before it was due to begin

Published

15 hours ago

July 17, 2025

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Tomorrowland: 'Devastating' blaze destroys main stage at major festival - two days before it was due to begin

A huge fire has destroyed the main stage of a major festival in Belgium – two days before it was due to begin.

Tomorrowland is a dance music event as big as Glastonbury – and David Guetta was due to perform.

Footage showed flames and thick plumes of black smoke engulfing the stage and spreading to nearby woodland on Wednesday.

The annual festival in the town of Boom, north of Brussels, is one of the biggest in Europe and attracts about 400,000 people over two consecutive weekends.

It is famous for its immersive and elaborate designs and attracts big names within dance music – including Guetta, best known for tracks When Love Takes Over and Titanium.

Dutch DJs Martin Garrix and Charlotte de Witte were also due to perform, along with the likes of Swedish House Mafia, Eric Prydz and Alok.

The festival’s website described the creative elements which went into the elaborate main stage.

The theme, described as Orbyz, was “set in a magical universe made entirely out of ice” and “full of mythical creatures”.

Organisers said no one was injured in the blaze but confirmed “our beloved main stage has been severely damaged”, adding they were “devastated”.

Spokesperson Debby Wilmsen added: “We received some truly terrible news today. A fire broke out on the Tomorrowland site … and our main stage was essentially destroyed there, which is truly awful.

“That’s a stage that took years to build, with so much love and passion. So I think a lot of people are devastated.”

Despite the fire, Tomorrowland organisers said they were still expecting 38,000 festivalgoers at DreamVille, the event’s campsite.

World

Why Israel is getting involved in Syria’s internal fighting

Published

24 hours ago

July 16, 2025

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Why Israel is getting involved in Syria's internal fighting

Israel has shown little respect for international borders since becoming the unrivalled military hegemon of the Middle East. Today that meant an Israeli airstrike on a government building in Damascus.

Israel says its attack on a Syrian defence ministry facility was intended as a warning to the new government: stay out of the part of southern Syria we have occupied or else.

Israel has moved into parts of the south of the country, built military bases and declared a line of control.

On Monday, Syrian tanks heading south to try and restore order following an outbreak of factional fighting were attacked by Israeli warplanes.

“The presence of such vehicles in southern Syria could pose a threat to Israel,” stated the Israel Defence Forces.

In reality, Syria’s ageing tanks pose minimal threat to Israel’s state-of-the art military.

The Syrian armour was attacked as it entered the area around Sweida in the Druze heartland of southern Syria following factional fighting there.

The flare-up reportedly began with clashes between Bedouin and Druze groups that ended in scores killed.

The background to the escalation is complicated.

At least three Druze militia groups are divided in their loyalties to different religious leaders and differ over how they should respond to calls to assimilate into the new post-revolutionary Syria.

Israel is becoming more and more involved in Syria’s internecine war and says it will remain there indefinitely “to protect our communities and thwart any threat”.

Its critics say Israel is operating a policy of divide and rule in Syria, weakening the fledgling government and creating a buffer zone to protect the border with the Golan Heights – originally Syrian territory that it has occupied and annexed for almost half a century.

Since the fall of the Assad regime, Israel has used airstrikes to destroy of much of Syria’s military capability weakening its ability to impose control on outlying regions. This makes it more not less likely Israel will have a volatile unstable state on its northern border.

America and European powers have chosen to normalise relations with the new government in Damascus and lift sanctions.

In contrast Israel has occupied its territory, bombed its military and today hit one of its government buildings in the capital with an airstrike.

Since its crushing military campaigns against Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran, Israel has emerged as the unchallenged military power of the region.

There is however a limit to what blunt force can achieve alone. It requires diplomacy to achieve lasting gains and Israel’s repeated assaults on multiple neighbours combined with its relentless campaign in Gaza are winning it few friends in the region.