MEDICS OF WULF: BLITZ WITH THE MEDICAL SERVICE OF THE "WOLVES DA VINCI" BATTALION

A medic in the world of RBTNK is a character with the superpower of Resilience. The most important, but the hardest to acquire superpower. What helps to build and nurture it — we asked at the stabilization point of the medical service ULF of the 108th separate battalion "Wolves Da Vinci". Our blitz was passed by the anesthesiologist Darina Boyko, anesthetists Eney and Next, surgeon Betsyk and operating room nurse Maria Shchebedko.

This material is published as part of the Superheroes column and a large joint fundraising campaign of the charity fund "Vydnokolo" x RBTNK x ULF. We are raising 500,000 UAH per month to save lives. You will see the heroes of the material with a limited ULF MED SUPPORT token, which can be purchased to contribute to the fundraising. Learn more and become a support for the resilience of ULF. here.

Tell us about your work

Darina: I am an anesthesiologist, working with anesthetists Next and Enay with severely and critically wounded patients. We stabilize the condition of the wounded and ensure the work of the surgeons.

Next: The anesthetist carries out the commands of the anesthesiologist to provide anesthesia. I work with Darina and Enay. Overall, we have a large team, where everyone is as professional as possible and engaged in their work. It is very enjoyable when you do something truly important with people who want and know how to be here.

Andriy [ Next ], anesthetist of the ULF medical service

Enay: I am an anesthetist, assistant to the anesthesiologist. I am responsible for intravenous procedures, working with severely wounded patients. I work with Darina and Next.

Bezyk: I perform a general assessment, stabilization of the wounded, and all surgical procedures at the stabilization point: this includes stopping bleeding, washing wounds, and all examinations (ultrasound, X-ray) with their interpretation.

Maria: I am the right hand of the surgeon — always next to him when we work with a patient. I have to anticipate the surgeon's next step, according to the surgeon :)

What is your mission?

Darina: To save lives.

Maria: To try not to make things worse than they are. *laughs*

Why did you choose this role in the war?

Darina: This is what I do best. Studying to be a doctor took 10 years: medical lyceum, medical university, internship. In civilian life, I was also an anesthesiologist. 

Everyone has to find what they do best, and bring benefit to my nation.

Darina Boyko, anesthesiologist of the ULF medical service

Next: I studied to be a medic, but I didn't work in my specialty for long. I decided that I could be useful in this way. If you have some useful education — use it in the war.

Enay: I have a diploma as a medic, but I initially joined the battalion as a cook, because I did that in civilian life. Later, during my service, I realized that I needed to develop in another direction, because the kitchen in service and the kitchen in civilian life are two different kitchens.

Maria: When I joined the ranks of the Armed Forces, I had already been studying to be a medic for several years at various institutions on state-funded places. That is, the state provided me with education free of charge, and I considered it my duty to repay this debt in this way.

Бецик: I am a man. There is war in my country. I am young, strong, have surgical skills, and after working in the ambulance, I also have skills in emergency medicine.

Yevhen [ Бецик ], surgeon of the ULF medical service

What gives you faith and stubbornness to continue the fight?

Дарина: People — both in our medical service and from other units. And also fallen friends — because you understand that you are here for them too.

Далі: When you see injured guys who just left a position where they sat for 2 days, 2 weeks, or 2 months. I am sure that no medic has the right to give up and say: "That's it, I'm done." 

You see these guys — they need some support. Who, if not us?

Eney: People: those around me, parents, relatives. Motivated people who understand the time and are engaged in our common cause charge me with energy.

Бецик: People. During my service, I have met many good people who have proven that they can sacrifice something for a greater cause, not just with words but with actions. Such an environment gives me the strength to move forward.

Марія: I am very inspired and filled with faith by the fact that I am not alone on this sinking ship. Every time I feel like giving up, and I think this is the last straw, I turn my head one way, then the other, and see people around me who continue to swim. This makes me keep going.

Maria Shchebedko, operational nurse of the ULF medical service

What artifacts are always with you and help you hold on?

Далі: A dog-shaped pillow that my fiancée Marichka gave me. It reminds me of my dog Vasylyna :) This pillow constantly travels with me, while Marichka and Vasylyna are waiting for me in Kyiv.

Бецик: Everything that has been in my backpack for more than two weeks is already an artifact for me :) There are many: a keychain with family photos hangs on my bag, I keep letters, there is a cat keychain and also a cat plush toy. I always have something to hold on to.

Марія: Books, even if I don't read them. And some cool notebooks. I don't know where they come from, but there is always one or two in my backpack.

Еней: Recently, this is my tea mushroom Vitalik. I enjoy feeding him, and he rewards me with a delicious summer drink — kombucha :)

What would you like the entire rear to understand?

Дарина: The value of my peaceful life.

Далі: That at any moment we can change places. We need to be prepared. If you are a man — you must be in the military. If you are a woman and feel that you can be useful here — do not hold back, everything is in your hands.

Бецик: That we are all citizens of Ukraine. Each of us has a duty to defend our state. 

Do your best in the rear. Everything you can, and everything, whatIt is worth trying to be able to.

Maria: What we, the military, are experiencing now is not forever. The day will come when we return home, and the people there must be ready for our return, waiting for us.

How to build a bridge between the rear and the front?

Eney: It seems to me that it should be built by the rear with its involvement in the common cause, understanding of tactical medicine, and development of both physical resilience and mental resilience. The military are doing their job. Although we are very grateful to civilians for donations and support, in fact, it’s always the same people.

Bezyk: Through dialogue. We need to communicate because without the rear, there will be no material support. And without us... well, without us, there will be no rear. I want the rear to think more about these bridges, and we just have to keep doing our job here.

What support do you consider most needed?

Darina: The military see all the civilian support: reposts, donations, messages. Sometimes completely unfamiliar people write to me: "Thank you, you saved my father at the stabilization point." All of this is valuable.

Next: Support and attention — not even to us, but to the guys who work in the positions. You can just thank someone on the street because it all starts with such little things. And definitely donate.

Eney: Donations and maximum involvement, based on what a person does well.

Understanding time is very important. Don't abstract yourself.

Vlad [Eney], anesthetist of the ULF medical service

Maria: In fact, any support is important. The worst is indifference when people show neither interest nor respect. A kind word, a repost of a fundraiser, or a small donation — that's already something that evokes positive emotions and gives strength.

Share your favorite work story

Bezyk: It's such a job that when an injured person arrives and all their vital functions are intact — that's already your favorite story. There was a guy at the last stabilization point with a tattoo on his stomach from 2003 or 2004 (year of birth) — and completely covered in shrapnel, but nothing penetrated anywhere. You look and think: "Well, that's cool. The kid is lucky."

Next: Once our leader Alina (Alina Mykhailova, — ed. note) brought a wild boar that was hit by a car. She wanted us to save it and for it to live with us (unfortunately, it didn't work out because the boar had a broken spine).

Eney: Before the anesthesia, the guy was sure that they would leave his leg, he was wiggling his toes. But after sedation, the surgeons looked and saw that there was nothing to save. They performed an amputation of the foot. They wake him up, explain, and he is still coming out of anesthesia and screams: "What, are you crazy?? Take a picture of my leg! Irina, show me my leg!!!" :)

In our profession, it's hard to find a cool, pleasant story. But at ULF, there are many happy endings with animals — they are very loved here, and many have already been sent "to the big land." Our nurse Maria saved a cat that gave birth to 6 kittens. Now it's a nice moment of the day — you approach, pet it, and recharge.

Maria: Once we performed an amputation and prepared the documents to dispose of the limb according to all the rules. But our registrar accidentally threw away the referral for the pathohistological examination. And now, the patient is about to leave for the next stage of evacuation, and the registrar runs up to me in a panic: "Maria, I threw away the invoice." "What invoice?" "For the leg! Write a new one."

Daryna: We have very nice self-adhesive bandages that are used to wrap catheters: leopard or heart patterns. And the guys take, for example, brown... Well, why?? *laughs*

What achievements of the service are you particularly proud of?

Daryna: When I arrived in 2024 at the stabilization point in a small village, it was a small building with one shock-resistant bed and a broken door for the stretcher to pass through. Now we have an operating room, fully equipped with the best equipment that can be at this stage of providing assistance, we have a shock room for two beds, large refrigerators with blood and the best blood warmers, we have legal, licensed narcotic drugs, a separate manipulation room where people with and without medical education work, we have a room where the wounded can rest and eat (and soon there will be a TV in it).

All of us in the medical service are very proud of our work. We had more than 12,000 wounded in a year — for the medical service of the battalion (if you understand the scale of a battalion, brigade, and corps) this is a huge number. At the same time, ULF developed so actively that those who worked in hospitals wanted to transfer to us. We have grown a lot over the past year and now we have no vacancies except for a driver-electrician. I am very proud of all this.

What are you dreaming about right now?

Daryna: Like all military personnel — about living a normal civilian life in my country, working as an anesthesiologist, because I love it. And for our "neighbor" to not exist.

Eney: About the nearest vacation, about civilian life, demobilization, inner peace. And about the collapse of Russia — I am really looking forward to it and believe in it.

Betsyk: For Russia to disappear and for all of us to go home :)

Maria: Like everyone — for peace to finally come and we can return to our lives.

Dali: About vacation. Probably, everyone dreams of a vacation. I dream of my own housing — a private house. About a big car. I dream of buying a goat for my wife :) I dream of peace.

[Dali's fiancée, Maria Taraban — founder of the charity fund "Vydnokolo". In our an interview with her Marichka says she dreams of a private house and a goat, — ed. note]

If you could imagine becoming any characters from the game — who would you choose?

Daryna: Lara Croft — my favorite heroine. She saves lives, solves puzzles — this is my favorite activity from childhood :)

Dali: Joel from The Last of Us. Because the guy lives in a post-apocalyptic world where there is no money and everything depends only on your survival skills :)

Eney: CJ (CJ) from GTA 5 :)

Betsyk: Noi from "S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat". The guy lives alone on a ship with dogs and no one approaches him. *laughs*

Maria: A character from the game SIMS, to which all possible positive cheat codes were entered :)

Making a ULF motherload of 500,000 UAH is our goal together with the charity fund "Vydnokolo". Get the ULF MED SUPPORT dog tag, like Daryna, Eney, Dali, Betsyk, and Mariyka. The dog tag is your donation and a symbol that you have joined the month of work at the stabilization point, a month of saving lives. Learn more and become a support for ULF's resilience. here.