STORIES OF PROJECT PARTICIPANTS

Serhii, 34 y.o.

Serhii is from the city of Pereiaslav-Khmelnytskyi in the Kyiv region. Before the full-scale war, he worked as a tractor driver and cultivated grain. In September 2023, he was mobilized into the Armed Forces of Ukraine. After completing basic training in Ukraine and Spain, he carried out combat missions in the Kursk direction, where he sustained severe injuries during an airstrike and lost his left leg. After the amputation, Serhii’s main goal was to walk independently without crutches. Through the grant program, he began secondary prosthetic care (replacement prosthetic socket) and is already taking his first independent steps. “I won’t have to lean on crutches anymore, and I’ll be able to carry two cups of coffee, one in each hand,” Serhii jokes.

Mykola, 33 y.o.

Mykola is originally from the mining town of Ternivka in the Dnipropetrovsk region. He volunteered to join the Ukrainian Armed Forces in January 2023. In the summer of 2024, while serving with the 36th Marine Brigade, Mykola was repelling russian offensive operations in the Kharkiv direction. During combat near the town of Tykhe, he sustained a mine-blast injury to his left leg. The evacuation of the wounded soldier lasted more than 18 hours due to intensive enemy drone attacks. As a result of tourniquet syndrome the limb had to be amputated at the level of the upper third of the thigh. Mykola has applied for the program to replace his prosthetic socket. He hopes to return to an active life and to contribute to reforms aimed at improving the well-being of veterans with amputations.

Ivan, 25 y.o.

Ivan has a higher military education. After graduating from the educational institution, he worked as an investigator at a district police department in his hometown of Siverodonetsk, Luhansk region. Following the start of russia’s full-scale invasion, he served in a military unit of the National Police of Ukraine. In April 2024, Ivan sustained a mine-explosive injury near Chasiv Yar, which resulted in the amputation of his right leg at the upper third of the thigh. The defender already has experience with prosthetic care. He applied to the project to replace his prosthetic socket. Ivan is actively involved in sports and dreams of representing Ukraine at the 2028 Paralympic Games in the United States. ​​“I’m young, I have a family and a small child — I need to stay active,” the defender shares.

Serhii, 53 y.o.

Serhii experienced the start of the full-scale war in his hometown of Prymorsk and joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine the very next day. During his service, he rose to the rank of company commander and was awarded the Honorary Badge of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the “Silver Cross”. During an offensive operation in the Zaporizhzhia direction in 2023, he sustained a mine-explosive injury that led to the amputation of his right leg below the knee. Serhii applied to the Foundation for a socket replacement, as he uses his prosthesis daily and remains highly active. He lives in Kyiv and works at the Kyiv City Office of the Social Protection Fund for Persons with Disabilities. His greatest wish is to return to the south of Ukraine — to his hometown of Prymorsk, which is currently under occupation. Above all, he hopes for the war to end.

Mykola, 77 y.o.

Mykola and his wife were living in the village of Drobysheve in the Donetsk region when the full-scale war began. They were engaged in farming. In May 2022, a shell hit the yard of their home, causing a mine-explosive injury that resulted in Mykola losing his left leg. Despite his age and amputation, Mykola strives to remain active — it is how he has lived his entire life. Through the grant program, he began secondary prosthetic care (replacement prosthetic socket) to adapt to changes in his body and continue to provide freedom of movement with a prosthesis. “We may be retirees, but our children and grandchildren don’t let us rest,” the couple jokes.

Ruslan, 33 y.o.

Ruslan served in the National Police of Ukraine in his home region of Odesa since 2014. With the start of the full-scale war, he joined a combat unit formed from police officers. In May 2025, Ruslan sustained severe injuries near the town of Toretsk in the Donetsk region as a result of an FPV drone strike. Due to the injuries, he lost his right arm and right leg. Ruslan is currently undergoing his first prosthetic fitting. As part of a grant-funded program, he is receiving a lower-limb prosthesis and believes this is his opportunity to regain mobility and return to an active life.