Nikita Nesterov, a paediatric traumatologist from Vinnytsia Oblast, has traded his job in the rear for saving wounded soldiers near the front line. The medic explains his decision by saying that he “went where he was needed most”.

Source: Medical Forces Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine told the story to UP.Zhyttia

Details: Nikita had dreamed of becoming a paediatric traumatologist since his school days. This was because he often visited the emergency room as a child. Although these visits were painful, the professionalism and calmness of the doctors left him with good memories.

“If anyone thinks that paediatric traumatology is an easy job, they are very much mistaken,” Nikita notes.

Medical officer Nikita Nesterov**Photo: Command of the Medical Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine

He often had to treat children with multiple injuries after traffic accidents. And with the start of the full-scale war, the young doctor began treating patients with shrapnel wounds.

It was at the Vinnytsia Oblast Children’s Hospital, where Nikita worked, that Roman Oleksiv, a boy who survived a missile strike on Vinnytsia on 14 July 2022, received first aid and wore a mask for two years to prevent scarring on his face.

Working with traumatised children became a psychological preparation for military service for Nikita.

“I was already prepared for blood and wounds,” says the doctor.

He understood that the army lacked specialists in his field, so he decided to sign a contract and become a military medic.

“Not to sit idly by, but to be where I am needed most,” the man explains his decision.

Within a year, he completed training at the military department and earned the rank of junior lieutenant in the medical service. In 2024, Nikita joined the Military Medical Clinical Centre of the Central Region.

At first, he worked with the wounded in hospital, then joined one of the medical units stationed near the front line.

On his first assignment, Nikita was sent to a mobile surgical hospital near Zaporizhzhia. The wounded were evacuated there from stabilisation points and directly from the battlefield.

“In civilian medicine, there is sometimes confusion, but here everything works like clockwork,” the medic shares.

This hospital was located underground. Nikita said that it is psychologically easier to work there. When there is shelling above, you feel relatively safe below, at your workplace. Although the attacks were constant, people still adapted to them.

“It’s like living near a railway. At first, you flinch at loud noises, but then you don’t notice them anymore,” explains the medic.

Nikita remembers most vividly the case when a young man was hit by a homemade drone. Half of his face was injured, but he was conscious and breathing on his own. The doctors stabilised his condition.

“When you see a person with half of their face missing, and they are talking, it’s shocking. But you act without losing your concentration,” says the doctor.

After his rotation, he went to Vinnytsia, and after a few days of rest, he returned to the front line. Nikita says that the support of his family helps him a lot psychologically. But he always feels that the real work is there, near the front line.

“It’s addictive. I want to go back. Because that’s where you’re needed,” says Nikita.

He is now preparing for his next trip. He doesn’t know where exactly and doesn’t ask. He just hopes that there will be as few patients as possible.

“Because I don’t want the guys to suffer,” the medic adds.

Background: Earlier, we told the story of 32-year-old soldier Ruslan Chaika, who was seriously wounded at the front and couldn’t reach the evacuation point for three days due to constant Russian attacks.

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