Before the Ukrainian war, Oleg Belotsky was a famous professional motocross and star on the track. These days, his driving and coordination skills are being tested behind the wheel of an ambulance transporting wounded soldiers from the front lines to a hospital.
The Russians fired on ambulances as they pushed towards the front line, exploding just meters in front of them.
His explanation of how he feels in these moments is not beautiful, but it is honest: “I don’t feel like Superman. “I’m scared every time,” he said. “Every time I have nasty pants.”
Oleg Belotsky is a professional motocross racer and instructor. Instagram
Belotsky, 31, is from Kyiv. He says he got into his new wartime profession after transporting his family to a safe place near the western Ukrainian city of Lviv and providing supplies between the two cities to a Ukrainian volunteer paramedic group known as hospitallers.
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When they found out that he could drive and speak English, they asked him to board.
The donation-dependent group delivers supplies to the front line and operates a voluntary ambulance. One of its bases operates in a town near the Dnieper.
2:46 “I don’t feel like Superman”: Inside a hospital on the eve of the Russian war in Ukraine “I don’t feel like Superman”: Inside a hospital on the eve of the Russian war in Ukraine
The closest city to the war front in southeastern Ukraine, the Dnieper has become a center for military and humanitarian efforts. The bustling city of about one million people is the fourth largest in Ukraine and remains a relatively safe island as the war rages on the 480-kilometer front line just a few hundred kilometers away.
But these front lines may look much closer than they are. Belotsky says they can see red flames from rocket attacks from the Hospitaller base.
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“Every time I think this will be my last rotation”
The group operates in a landscaped suburb of an old hospital, a long line of black ambulances parked outside. The Russians are targeting them with artillery shells, so Berlotsky says they tried to disguise them with twigs and nets.
But that didn’t work, he explained, showing us a picture of his phone on the smoldering corpse of a pickup truck that had previously been used to transport goods and wounded from the front lines. So instead they painted the ambulances black.
The Hospitaller Battalion consists of both Ukrainians and international volunteers who have found a middle ground in their belief that their skills will be better served here than anywhere else.
The ambulances on the front line are painted black because they are so often directed by the Russians. Ashley Stewart
When we visit, Belotsky’s crew – made up of him, an American and two Swedes – load an ambulance for a one-month rotation near Kharkov. They are dressed in military uniforms, with rifles slung over their shoulders.
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“We joke in line when we rest in a Georgian cafe, eat Georgian food, listen to European music, with Swedish boys, American boys, Ukrainians with Russian rifles who go to the front to fight Russia,” said Belotsky, of their international makeup.
He believes this is his fifth or sixth rotation, which can last from a few days to a few weeks.
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Every time, he says, he swears it will be the last. His family considers him “crazy” and the danger he faces on a daily basis is not lost on him either.
“Every time I think this will be my last rotation. I’m like, “No, that’s enough,” he says.
“Then I remember the simple soldiers sitting at the front. These simple people have one last box of cigarettes and want to share it with you. They are wet and dirty with mud, with blood. And every time I think about it, that’s why I come back. “
Belocki’s crew consisted of two Swedes and an American, as did he. Ashley Stewart
Belotsky has no military experience, other than attending a shooting range as a hobby.
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But most of his friends are in the army or volunteer, and he also wants to finish his role. Ukrainian men between the ages of 18 and 60 are also barred from leaving the country by presidential decree if called upon to fight.
Although skills are not transferred directly, especially because ambulances have a much higher center of gravity, he says, his experience in motorcycling has helped in other ways.
“Motorcycle racing helps me figure out how fast and safe to turn corners and surfaces. “It really helps to understand the laws of physics and how to do the same with ambulances and motorcycles,” he said.
Pickups are often needed to transport the wounded
The volunteer crew worked in unison with the military, waiting for a call from soldiers to say they had to retrieve the wounded. Sometimes the fighting is too intense for ambulances to pass, he said, even for Ukrainian military ambulances.
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When they arrive after escaping shelling to succeed, many patients often await them. They take away the most severely wounded – sometimes three or four at a time.
Often on the front lines themselves, the road is often too chewed for ambulances to move. At these times, the team must use pickups and load wounded soldiers on their backs.
Hospitallers charge for a one-month rotation to Kharkov. Braden Latham
“A lot of people are wondering how you put injured people in a pickup truck when they’re bumping up and down. Yes, exactly. “They collide, but they die if they are not inside,” Belotsky said.
Most of the injuries Belotsky sees are shrapnel wounds and concussions. Many soldiers have two or three concussions and still do not want to leave the front, Belotsky said.
Read more: Wounded soldiers at the hospital in Dnipro reveal the horrors of the war in Ukraine
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Fellow volunteers believe that this is proof of the strength of the Ukrainian army.
Patrick, one of the two Swedish volunteers in Oleg’s crew, joined the hospital after five years in the Swedish army and served as a paramedic.
Despite his time in the army, this is his first time in a war zone. He says he left the army for Ukraine because he believed his skills would be better served here. He spends his personal money to be here, although the hospitallers provide most of their food and accommodation.
The Hospitallers are a Ukrainian volunteer paramedic organization. Braden Latham
Patrick says many of the injuries he sees are caused by “a mixture of heavy artillery fire and soldiers who do not wear their plates and helmets.”
He has faced countless cases of pure will and determination on the part of Ukrainian fighters.
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While working in Irpin, before the Russians withdrew in late March, the group helped a soldier with a severely infected wound to his arm caused by a dog bite. The soldier was adamant that he was fine, but Patrick said he would need an amputation if he was treated a day later.
The logo of the Hospitallers, sewn on one of the men’s military uniforms. Braden Latham
“Another time we were with one of the commanders, he was driving a tank. There was a severe concussion. And from time to time it just got dark. And he just refused to leave, “said Patrick.
Although he initially thought the war would last only a few months and then return home, he vowed to stay indefinitely. His family is not excited about the decision, but he still feels compelled.
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“I do not know how to explain, but the Ukrainians really care about their country and people and they will give their lives for it. They will not give in to the Russians. And I have nothing but admiration for it, “he said.
“We have been here for two months now and I do not regret anything. I feel more at home, like I’m doing something on purpose. ”
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