The U.S. premiere of “Can You Hear Me? The Invisible Battles of Ukrainian Military Medics” takes place Friday at the French Embassy in Washington, D.C., with Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States expected to attend. The Kyiv Independent’s documentary follows combat medics from the front lines of Ukraine to the quiet forests of Sweden, where they receive a rare mental health retreat after years of nonstop trauma.
The film’s creators, journalists Francis Farrell and Olena Zashko, document the medics’ struggle to process grief and guilt before returning once again to war. Editor-in-chief of the Kyiv Independent, Olga Rudenko, told Scripps News that the film reveals a side of the conflict rarely seen in daily coverage. She said the response in Europe has been overwhelmingly positive because the film highlights what few realize — that the medics themselves need healing.
“You usually see medics saving lives,” Rudenko said. “But this film follows their journey of getting help themselves — because they witness unspeakable horrors all the time.”
Rudenko said the program gave the medics what they almost never receive — time and care focused on their own well-being.
“They’re the ones taking care of everyone else,” she said. “This was a moment where someone finally took care of them, not just with food and rest, but by asking, ‘How do you feel?’”
During the interview, Rudenko also reacted to breaking news of a large-scale Russian drone and missile assault overnight that left much of Ukraine without power or running water.
“It’s easier to be there than to watch from afar,” she said. “You’re trying to track who might be in which neighborhood that’s been hit.”
She confirmed that all Kyiv Independent staff members were safe but said the attacks represented an escalation.
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“Russia has targeted infrastructure since 2022,” Rudenko said, noting that this week’s strikes appeared “different and more devastating.”
Despite the dangers, the Kyiv Independent continues to send reporters near the front lines. Rudenko said safety protocols have become stricter as Russia increasingly targets journalists. She pointed to the death of French photojournalist Antoine Long and the wounding of Ukrainian journalist Georgii Ivanchenko in a recent front-line drone strike.
“They were wearing press vests,” she said. “The operator could clearly see who they were. Russia does this deliberately.”
As Ukraine carries out long-range strikes on Russian oil and gas facilities, Rudenko emphasized a key distinction between the two sides’ tactics. “They hit civilian infrastructure,” she said. “Ukraine hits refineries to undermine Russia’s ability to fund the war.”
“Can You Hear Me?” offers a human counterpoint to that grinding conflict — a story of those who save lives while struggling to save their own. “Everyone in Ukraine is living through trauma without processing it,” Rudenko said. “This film reminds us that healing, even briefly, matters.”
