War & Disasters · International · Health

Treating the Wounded Under the Drone Threat

Kharkiv, Ukraine, July 2025Photos and text: David Taché14 images

01 / 14 · Kharkiv, Ukraine, July 2025

In a village north of Kharkiv, near Vovchansk, a house with sealed windows conceals a medical stabilisation point. Wounded soldiers receive emergency treatment here before being transferred to a military hospital. Outside, Russian drones fly over the streets and guided bombs regularly strike nearby.

Among those treated is Sergei, 22, who suffered severe burns when a drone struck the vehicle taking him to his position. His body is riddled with shrapnel. Alyssa, a combat nurse, treats injuries whose cause she knows all too well. “For the past year, the vast majority of injuries have been caused by drones. The whole sky is filled with these stupid ‘birds’,” she says bitterly.

The house receiving the wounded offers no protection from the weapons that brought them there. The medical team works knowing that a strike could hit here too.

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