Островки милосердия. Российские медики во время военных действий на Северном Кавказе в 1990 — начале 2000-х гг.

Abstract

At the turn of the XX–XXI centuries, Russia had to conduct active military operations twice to suppress the hotbed of separatism, crime and terrorism in the North Caucasus. Serious military medicine forces had to be involved. Meanwhile, the participation of medical professionals in two Chechen operations is still on the periphery of attention of domestic researchers. In the 1990s and early 2000s, the Russian mass media wrote that military doctors were helping wounded and sick servicemen of the federal troops directly on the front line and in rear hospitals, often informed the general public about maintaining the mental health of recent front-line soldiers, and also never ignored the assistance to the civilian population (women, the elderly, children) of the Chechen Republic. Some press publications described the most successful and complex operations performed by Russian military surgeons. In many publications of those years, you can also find reports about the doctors who distinguished themselves the most during the active hostilities and were awarded high state awards, including the Gold Star of the Hero of the Russian Federation. The practical activities of Russian doctors in the North Caucasus in the 1990s and early 2000s resulted not only in the saving of the lives of the vast majority of wounded soldiers, but also in restoration of the Chechen health system, prevention of epidemics and successful fight against numerous infectious diseases.