The gynecologist in Ukraine that runs through the War Front to help women

A doctor smiles while making a selfie with a patient inside a mobile medical unit. — Photo foot, Baksheiev has performed more than 1,000 gynecological explorations in its mobile ambulance since 2022.

- Author, Keiligh Baker
- Author's title, BBC News
1 hour

In a rural village near the Ukrainian front line, a group of women row in silence before a purple and white ambulance. They hope to be treated by a doctor who has a shaved and dyed head of the blue and yellow of the Flag of Ukraine.

For many of them, it is the first time they see a doctor since the war began more than three years ago.

Since 2022, Dr. Serhii Baksheiev, 53, has made more than 1,000 gynecological recognitions to women in all areas of the front in his equipped mobile clinic, baptized as “the female ferry”, which includes a striking exam chair of a vibrant pink.

Five warm women with thick coats and caps remain standing in the snow against the mobile clinic. — Photo foot, “The female ferry” has an ultrasound and other equipment to perform small surgical interventions.

“This is a humanitarian volunteer mission. It is for people who need help, in places where there are no doctors or hospitals, and it is completely free,” he says.

The war with Russia has put enormous pressure on the Ukraine health system, with more than 1,940 attacks on medical facilities from the invasion, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), which represents the highest figure recorded in any humanitarian crisis to date, and with a significant increase in those attacks since December 2023.

When the war began, Dr. Baksheiev, who is obstetrician and gynecologist, spent his days in a bunker in kyiv helping to bring babies to the world as they fell bombs on the city.

The idea of a mobile clinic, counts, emerged after volunteer medical missions on the front, where he realized the lack of facilities, since the medical centers and hospitals had been completely destroyed.

“We went to Járkiv and Cherníhiv, who were very damaged, and the most difficult thing was not to be able to provide gynecological services because there were no tools or equipment, everything was destroyed,” he says.

Baksheiev and his team had to use anything available as an exam table, even old sofas, which meant that he had to kneel to perform the exams.

Today, when walking around the electric vehicle, it is clear that Dr. Baksheiev is incredibly proud of his capabilities: he has been equipped with everything he and his equipment may need in these remote areas, including an ultrasound machine and medical equipment to perform minor surgeries.

A woman lies on a sofa with a blue hospital sheet placed on her before a medical review. — Photo foot, Before the mobile clinic, Dr. Baksheiev had to use whatever it was at hand to perform exams and procedures.

During a two -day mission, the equipment can perform up to 80 colposcopias, a procedure in which the cervix and vulva are examined in search of cancerous or precacerative tissue signs.

This work – often carried out in secret – is crucial for people living in these rural and remote areas near the battle front.

Figures provided by the Ministry of Public Health of Ukraine and seen by the BBC show that ovarian and cervical cancer detection rates have decreased by 17% and 10%, respectively, since 2020.

And when doctors such as Dr. Baksheiev manage to reach these areas to perform exams, they are finding an incidence of malignant tumors superior to the average.

A woman lying down on a table with a blue operations sheet on the body and three doctors with gloves around her. — Photo foot, Dr. Baksheiev's medical team had to use alternative spaces, such as this improvised operating room.

On average, up to 4 % of all women examined are diagnosed with malignant tumors, according to Frida Ukraine, the medical organization for which Dr. Baksheiev works as a volunteer.

Dr. Ulana Suprún, who was Minister of Health of Ukraine between 2016 and 2019, warns about the “time bomb” that represent the effects on health as the war extends.

“In the public health community there is definitely a lot of concern about what will happen while war continues,” he says.

“Not only in terms of physical health, but also of mental health, because there is constant stress, a constant psychological trauma that is occurring.”

Suprún points out that the Government has managed to partially or totally to 964 medical facilities that were damaged by Russia.

“They are working closely with WHO and other international organizations to try to develop a plan on how we can rebuild the health system that existed before the Russian invasion,” he adds.

Despite having received a diagnosis of cancer himself in September 2024, Dr. Baksheiev continues to work as a volunteer and providing medical attention to women throughout the country.

“Apart from the medical examination, you also listen to them, because many patients have stories about how the Russians attacked their villages,” he says.

“So not only are we doctors, we are also the therapists of these patients.”