Overwhelmed, injured, confused, and astonished to have survived a double landmine explosion within their armored ambulance, the Ukrainian The medical team had misplaced their radio and direction.
They knew a Russian ambush The team was closely knit and needed to leave New York, near Donetsk, quickly.
Their leader, Rebekah Maciorowski, a volunteer hailing from Colorado, did not observe the Ukrainian drones Overhead, those flashing beacons guided her toward safety. It was during broad daylight.
The Russian drones might spot them too, realizing this as they scurried into a derelict structure. They found themselves in the direst of military situations — utterly devoid of control.
“Getting blown up was not so traumatic compared to the situation that we were in with no comms. No comms, you know, in a grey zone, no communications, no navigational reference,” says Rebekah, 31, a permanent frontline medic in Ukraine since March 2022.
Even more devastating was witnessing her own president betray Ukraine’s leader and change allegiances, backing the Kremlin She overheard him as she watched a drone feed of one of her teams under attack, attempting to evacuate injured soldiers near Toretsk, just north of Donetsk.
You won't believe this: I'm viewing the live footage from the combat drone, and strike after strike is hitting our soldiers' location. We're just waiting to learn which ones are either killed or wounded. Donald Trump’ In the background, his voice can be heard saying something along the lines of, "They could have struck a deal, and it would've been an excellent agreement." It was incredibly ironic.
You're witnessing your friends and coworkers possibly dying right before your eyes as you listen to the leader of a democratic nation claim it's not significant.
This was the moment when Ukraine nearly relinquished control of its defense efforts. Russia — When Trump decided to halt military assistance and subsequently discontinued intelligence briefings, he left Ukrainian forces both blind and vulnerable during battles.
Ukrainian soldiers and foreign volunteers fighting alongside them have been largely gagged by Kyiv. They have been told not to make the terrible relations with the Trump administration any worse after the White House changed from ally of Ukraine to adversary.
However, for Rebekah and her team—which includes Ukrainians, a German, a Georgian, and a New Zealand nurse—as part of Ukraine’s 53rd Brigade, the transition to using American equipment has been extremely challenging.
Rebekah, a trauma nurse based in Denver, with experience in humanitarian work in Central America, volunteered when Ukraine called for help after Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. She came on a five-week leave period and never went back.
Volunteering in teams on the front lines and running evacuations of civilians and soldiers, she built up a social media following which allowed her to raise an estimated $300,000 for supplies to her teams.
She thought what she was doing was all-American and in the best traditions of the defence of democracy and decency her country always stood for.
Then, a few months after being formally brought into Ukraine’s armed army as a medical officer, she heard the row between Trump and Zelensky at the White House.
“It was kind of traumatic. Honestly, it was kind of traumatic. It was unexpected, and it was, I don’t even have words. It was awful, yeah. It felt like a knife in the back,” says Rebekah.
As the 53rd’s medical officer she is responsible for the wellbeing of hundreds of soldiers fighting on Ukraine’s bloodiest and most forsaken front line.
There are areas where injured soldiers are taking cover in dugouts amidst the debris of Toretsk – they continue to resist despite facing an advancing Russian force. Vladimir Putin mulls a ceasefire The proposal from Trump. They are anticipated to discuss this week.
“We’re getting about 300g of water to them a day. Food, medicine, we drop it in from drones that were adapted to drop bombs because we cannot get the soldiers out overland,” she tells The Independent from her secret location close to Toretsk.
Troops there are able to survive, often with appalling wounds, because the drone packages of medicines dropped to them are backed up by Rebekah and doctors who talk them through how to treat themselves while holding back frequent Russian attacks across the shattered landscape.
Her evacuation teams include medics and Ukrainian soldiers, who drive to rescue wounded troops in the ambulance version of the ancient American-supplied M113 Bradley vehicles on the edge of Toretsk, and along a wide section of the eastern front near Konstaninivka.
The Bradleys are Vietnam war-era armoured vehicles donated by the US which, once they were repaired and made combat ready in Ukraine, won surprising praise for their resilience against Russian weapons.
The U.S. has provided approximately $60 billion (£46 billion) in military assistance, which was put on hold during the Trump administration. It remains uncertain if this supply of resources has resumed. Meanwhile, European countries are scrambling to compensate for the shortage caused by the halted American aid and bridge the gap created by what they perceive as an inconsistent ally.
While President Vladimir Putin prolongs his reaction to the truce proposed by Ukraine, Russia has exploited the hesitant stance of US foreign policy by launching assaults against Ukrainian troops within Kursk—a territory recaptured by Kyiv from Russian control earlier this past year.
Additionally, reliable independent reports corroborate this information. Volodymyr Zelensky His assertion suggests that Moscow is amassing forces along his country's northern frontier opposite Sumy province. This could potentially be a move aimed at launching incursions into Ukraine with the intent of securing additional territory prior to genuine negotiations taking place.
In the east, each rescue operation conducted by the medical team in and around Toretsk comes under attack. Denys, who drives for the team, has experienced explosions so frequently that he can no longer keep track of the number of times it has happened.
An experienced mid-aged gentleman stands leaning against a wall at the medical facility, holding a steaming teacup. His partially shaved scalp bears marks from recent injuries.
He cannot see through the hatch of his armored ambulance and thus must drive with his head outside. Three days prior, he was struck by an FPV drone but did not acknowledge being injured; he wanted to avoid dealing with the paperwork.
"We welcomed four new recruits and evacuated seven injured soldiers. I have a fragment from a drone embedded in my skull," he says quietly.
"He has metal and plastic embedded in his head – along with some in his neck from an earlier injury," explains Alex, a German volunteer who was present at the time.
Sasha, who was operating the Bradley when it exploded in New York, has lost two fingers and refers to what's left as his " ninja turtle right hand." He is also sipping some coffee and awaiting the next mission.
When asked about the ceasefire following Ukraine's agreement to halt hostilities for 30 days during discussions with Trump, Putin simply dismisses it with a shrug.
“He states that no cease-fire will be effective.”
Rebekah concurs. She lacks the extensive experience with numerous past breaches of ceasefires by Russia after multiple agreements were signed and internationally mediated peace accords were reached in Minsk.
However, she has cared for wounded troops on the frontline during some of the most intense combat operations since 2022, in locations such as Bakhmut, Avdiivka, Vuhlesdar, and others. She understands all too well just how horrific, undignified, and irreversible a fatality on the battlefield can be.
For her, war is an abstract story to be bent by Trump’s echoing Russian lies that Ukraine is surrounded in Kursk, or that “millions are dead” and that Ukraine’s cities are all rubble.
Day to day, she deals with the screaming bloody reality of what’s happening here.
Regarding the ceasefire, her stance is firm: "I do not believe the ceasefire will be upheld. I don’t anticipate it being honored."
I would genuinely welcome the opportunity to rescue my injured comrades and allow them some rest and relief. However, considering historical precedents and Russia’s consistent actions time and time again, it's unimaginable to conceive of a scenario where a ceasefire would be respected.
She departs next to instruct newly arrived soldiers in basic combat medical care. These troops will be heading to Toretsk within a few days.
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