Ukrainian intelligence warns that a Russian Lancet drone is circling the skies over Kramatorsk like a heron over a fishpond, ready to strike.
A laptop shows multi-screen images of medics running through a devastated forest, Russian soldiers under Ukrainian gunfire, blown-up bunkers - everyday terror. This is the future of war - and the West is not prepared for what could happen in an open conflict with Russia: mass casualties and a transformation of the battlefield beyond anything NATO armies are prepared for, writes The Independent.
The laptop is for Rebecca Maciorowski, an American volunteer paramedic who is leading medical operations, evacuations and training for an entire battalion of men and women on the eastern front in Ukraine, under the command of the 3rd Brigade. In a conventional war she would be a major. In this conflict? She has no idea what her rank is and even less cares.
But the revelations from this frontline soldier, who boasts the rare feat of shooting down a Russian drone attacking her patients, are chilling.
"You met with NATO training teams. You spoke to NATO when you got back to Europe. Do you think they are ready for the next war with Russia?“, the British media journalists ask her.
“No. No, honestly, I'm a little scared”, she replies – after more than 40 months of war here.
She goes on to explain: “If you talk to NATO military representatives, they will assure you that everything is under control, that they are well equipped and prepared. But I don't think anyone can be prepared for a conflict like this. I don't think anyone can.
And what worries me is that while they are offering training in Europe for Ukrainians, I think it would be good for them to get information and training from Ukrainians as well.“
Maciorowski has been training with NATO forces for the past year and says what they taught her was relevant to Afghanistan and Iraq, but not to Ukraine.
"When I went to NATO training, the drone factor wasn't included. It was mostly a tactic learned in the previous war. And that tactic doesn't apply anymore because you don't do a linear strike.