[ti:Without Power, Surgeons Work by Flashlight in Ukraine] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.04]Russian strikes have cut off power across Ukraine, [00:03.80]including many hospitals. [00:06.64]The power outages added more pressure [00:09.60]on the country's already weakened healthcare system. [00:13.92]Medical operations, or surgeries, are being delayed. [00:18.80]Patient records are unavailable because of internet outages. [00:24.80]Dr. Oleh Duda was in the middle of a complex surgery [00:29.16]at a hospital in Lviv, Ukraine, when he heard explosions. [00:34.40]Moments later, the lights went out. [00:38.80]Duda had to keep working with only a headlamp for light. [00:43.04]The lights came back three minutes later [00:46.20]but those "fateful minutes could have cost the patient his life," [00:50.44]the surgeon told The Associated Press. [00:55.24]The operation took place on November 15. [00:58.92]That day, the city in western Ukraine suffered outages [01:03.64]as Russia launched missiles at Ukraine's energy supply. [01:07.84]The attacks damaged nearly 50 percent of the country's energy facilities. [01:14.56]The World Health Organization (WHO) said last week [01:19.56]that Ukraine's health system is facing "its darkest days in the war so far." [01:25.24]The organization noted the growing energy crisis, [01:29.16]the beginning of cold winter weather and other difficulties. [01:34.44]Dr. Hans Kluge is the WHO's director for Europe. [01:39.44]He said that 2 million to 3 million more people [01:43.80]could leave their homes in search of warmth and safety. [01:48.36]He said that could cause more health difficulties, [01:51.84]including spreading infections like COVID-19, pneumonia and flu. [01:58.76]Attacks have hit hospitals and other health centers in southeastern Ukraine, too. [02:04.48]The WHO said in a statement [02:07.76]that they have confirmed at least 703 attacks since the war began. [02:14.08]Russia claims it does not target civilian facilities. [02:17.88]Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said last week [02:22.12]that Russia is targeting only structures "directly [02:25.52]or indirectly related to military power." [02:30.56]But last week, a strike on a maternity center in a hospital in eastern Ukraine [02:36.36]killed a newborn baby and heavily wounded two doctors. [02:41.28]And two people were killed in the northeastern Kharkiv area [02:45.72]after the Russian forces hit a health center. [02:50.04]In Lviv, Duda said the explosions were so close to the hospital [02:54.92]that "the walls were shaking." [02:56.76]Doctors and patients had to seek shelter underground. [03:03.00]Across Kherson, it starts to get dark after 4 p.m. in late November. [03:08.32]So, doctors are using headlamps, phone lights and flashlights to work. [03:14.76]In some hospitals, important equipment no longer works. [03:20.72]"The breathing machines don't work, the X-ray machines don't work. [03:25.52]... There is only one portable ultrasound machine," [03:28.68]said Dr. Volodymyr Malishchuk. [03:32.16]He is head of surgery at a children's hospital in Kherson. [03:37.88]Health Minister Viktor Liashko said on Friday [03:41.68]that there are no plans to shut down any of Ukraine's hospitals, [03:45.96]no matter how bad the situation gets. [03:49.56]Liashko said that generators have been provided to all hospitals. [03:54.44]There will be 1,100 more generators [03:58.16]sent by the country's Western allies in the coming weeks. [04:03.04]A generator is a machine that uses fuel to create electricity. [04:08.12]And the hospitals have enough fuel to last seven days. [04:14.72]More generators are still badly needed, the minister added. [04:19.24]"The generators are designed [04:21.16]to work for a short period of time — three to four hours," [04:25.16]but outages can last up to three days, Liashko said. [04:30.88]Duda, the surgeon from Lviv, [04:33.40]said "The war has affected every doctor in Ukraine, [04:37.12]be it in the west or in the east, [04:39.64]and the level of pain we're facing every day is hard to measure." [04:45.76]I'm Dan Novak. 更多听力请访问51VOA.COM