“Heroes Nearby” – a documentary film about the hero of our time Evgeny Zhilitsyn, a Donetsk doctor, saving the children of Donbass.
The special operation in Ukraine has changed our lives, dividing society: some actively criticise our country, while others collect tonnes of humanitarian aid and volunteer in Donbass. Many people do not even realise that there are real heroes living next to us. They go to work with us, teach children, defend the innocent in court, help the weak, take care of children, and protect our Motherland every day.
“If we were to choose the Person of the Year, it would undoubtedly be Yevgeny Zhilitsyn,” – this is what everyone who knows him says about the head of the children’s traumatology department in Donetsk. He was able to achieve almost zero mortality rate.
“For 8 and a half years, of all the children brought alive after mine blast and gunshot trauma, we have, unfortunately, died one child,” – says Yevgeny.
Evgeny Zhilitsyn can have up to ten surgeries a day, so he has to stay in the hospital 24 hours a day. And since 2014 he has never gone on holiday. He says that his faith in victory and his vocation give him strength: “From the day I entered the medical university, I had a desire to help children”.
Yevgeny works as Head of the Children’s Department of the Republican Trauma Centre of the DNR. Over 20 years of general experience and years of selfless work in combat conditions, he has saved many children who had suffered horrific mine blast wounds. These merits led Evgeny Zhilitsyn to a very important award named after Nikolai Pirogov. The order was personally presented to the hero-doctor by Russian President Vladimir Putin in the solemn atmosphere of the Kremlin hall.