Stories of our unbroken Ukrainian defenders

We continue to share the stories of our unbroken defenders who fight for freedom and independence for our country every day. These are Pavlo Ponomarenko and Andrii Klymchuk. The men have now arrived in the United States to undergo prosthetics and rehabilitation at the MCOP clinic under the supervision of outstanding specialists.
 

Pavlo Ponomarenko

The soldier is from the Chernihiv region. On 24 February, while in Kyiv, he found out that the occupiers had surrounded his native village.

Pavlo wanted to volunteer right away, but the military commissariat did not accept him and only in the summer of 2023 he was mobilized and joined the 33rd separate mechanized brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which fought in the Zaporizhzhia direction, serving as a machine gunner.

In offensive combat operations, the soldier was wounded in the autumn near Robotyne, Zaporizhzhya region. 

As a result of an enemy mortar attack, Pavlo's left arm was severely injured. A comrade applied a tourniquet to it, but due to the prolonged shelling, it took 10 hours to evacuate Pavlo to the hospital. The military man lost his arm which had to be amputated. 

 

Andrii Klymchuk

The defender was born and lived in the Kirovohrad region. He joined the army in 2014. He took part in the battles for Debaltseve and served near Avdiivka and Opytne in the Donetsk region. 

After completing his contracted service, Andrii returned to civilian life, but later, in 2021, he joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine. After the full-scale invasion, he fought in the Bakhmut direction.

On 24 September 2023, Andrii and his unit were near Bakhmut, just 800 meters from enemy positions. 

As a result of a tank shelling, Andrii received a severe shrapnel wound, but this did not stop him, and he walked 3 km to the evacuation point on his own. As a result of his injury, Andrii lost his right eye and right arm.

We are grateful to Pfizer, which has supported our prosthetics program! By helping our defenders with prosthetics and rehabilitation, each of us is thanking them for their heroic deeds.