Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence has commissioned the first underground medical center for the armed forces’s frontline operations.
The center incorporates six steel bunkers each measuring 7.6 meters (24.9 feet) long with a diameter of 2.5 meters (8.2 feet).
Similar to civilian hospitals, the facility is equipped with oxygen concentrators, cardiac monitors, defibrillators, ventilators, surgical equipment, sterilizers, patent warming systems, and medical lighting solutions worth 7 million Ukrainian hryvnias ($170,251).
Additional utilities include water supply, ventilation, drainage, electronic warfare capabilities, and alternative power sources.
Tasks inside the center will be coordinated with the Ukrainian military’s East Medical Forces.
‘Critically Important’ Facilities
Kyiv’s steel hospital meets the requirements of a second-echelon field hospital or Role/Echelon 2 in accordance with NATO standards.
This function enables the site to provide intensive care, treatment, and post-care support for patients until discharge or transport to another medical facility.
Upon activation, the bunkers will consist of two full operating units, two resuscitation units, a working and a patient resting module.
East Medical Forces Commander Roman Kuzev noted that the center will be able to address over 100 patients.
“Such underground checkpoints are critically important for saving the lives of our soldiers. In the conditions of intense hostilities, we have to provide maximum protection and quick medical assistance to our heroes,” Kuzev explained.
“This is the first step in the framework of a large-scale project that will strengthen our medical infrastructure and allow even more effective support of defenders on the front lines.”
Response to Moscow’s Aggression
The Ukrainian government partnered with local conglomerate Metinvest to develop the 20-million hryvnia ($486,431) infrastructure.
To date, the company has spent more than 7.5 billion hryvnias ($182.4 million) to support the nation’s recovery since Russia’s invasion in 2022. Approximately 4 billion hryvnias ($97.2 million) of this investment was allocated for defense assets.
“A medical hospital located many metres underground is the most ambitious and challenging project we have had to implement since the beginning of the full-scale invasion,” Metinvest Group Chief Operating Officer Oleksandr Myronenko stated.
“Every minute counts in saving the lives of Ukrainian defenders. We have made every effort not to waste this precious time and to ensure that our doctors have everything they need to provide timely and effective aid.”
