As many as 1,000 German soldiers are set to be wounded every day if Vladimir Putin launches a war on Nato, Germany has warned.
The Kremlin has rejected any suggestions it might be preparing for a war with the Western military alliance.
But the latest incursions of Russian jets and drones into Poland, Romania and Estonia have raised fears of escalation.
Germany‘s surgeon general Ralf Hoffmann said that the number of injured troops in a potential conflict would depend on the intensity of battle and which military units were involved.
He added: ‘Realistically, we are talking about a figure of around 1,000 wounded troops per day.’
Learning from lessons on the frontline in Ukraine, Europe is stepping up preparations for potential conflict with Russia.
In addition to increasing its military spend and considering reintroduction of conscription, this also involved medical services.
Citing a shift from gunshot injuries to blast wounds and burns caused by drones and loitering munitions, Hoffmann said: ‘The nature of warfare has changed dramatically in Ukraine.’
Ukrainian soldiers describe the drone-infested corridor covering about 10 km either side of the frontline as the ‘kill zone’ because remotely piloted unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) deployed by both sides can swiftly spot and neutralise targets.
‘The Ukrainians often cannot evacuate their wounded fast enough because drones are buzzing overhead everywhere,’ Hoffmann said, underscoring the need for prolonged stabilization of injured soldiers – sometimes for hours – at the frontline,’ he added.
Hoffmann said flexible transport options were needed for wounded troops, noting Ukraine has used hospital trains.
For this reason, the German military is looking at hospital trains and buses and expanding medical evacuation by air, he said.
The wounded would undergo initial treatment at the frontline, before being transported back to Germany for care predominantly in civilian hospitals, Hoffmann added.
He estimated a need for approximately 15,000 hospital beds from German hospitals’ total capacity of up to 440,000.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
