‘I want to stand up again’: Wounded Ukrainian veterans on the road to recovery

On a recent morning, about 15 patients were in a group workout session at the Unbroken National Rehabilitation Center in Lviv, Ukraine. 

The mood was upbeat as they did their calisthenics, stretching and breathing exercises together. Most of the patients here have lost a limb during combat and now face a long, grueling road to recovery. 

One patient, Oleksandr, said he lost his right leg while fighting on the frontlines in the Zaporizhzhia region, in southern Ukraine during a counteroffensive in the summer of 2023.

Oleksandr, who served with Ukraine’s national guard, declined to share his last name due to security concerns. 

He said that one day in early September, his unit came under heavy artillery fire. He said he took a lot of shrapnel and while being evacuated, he lost a lot of blood.

By that point, he said, the medics couldn’t save his leg.

“I was in so much pain that the only thing I could think about was, when will this pain end?”

It took more than four months for Oleksandr to stop feeling pain. The next step for his rehabilitation is to get a prosthetic leg and learn how to use it. 

“I want to stand up again and fully return to society.”

Since it opened last spring, the Unbroken Rehabilitation Center has treated about 200 people a day — a mix of soldiers injured on the frontlines and civilians hurt in Russian attacks.

Lviv’s mayor, Andriy Sadovyi, has been at the helm of efforts to make this treatment possible. 

“[The] Russian invasion totally changed my city. Today, Lviv hosts 150,000 internally displaced people, and every day, Lviv hosts [the] wounded. Only our municipal hospital hosted 60,000 Ukrainian wounded, children, women, elderly people and Ukrainian soldiers,” he said.

For many Ukrainians, Lviv feels like a safe haven. Mayor Sadovyi wants to transform the city into a national hub for rehabilitation. But he said they face many challenges. 

“We need huge manufacturing of prosthetics, and I must look for money for new prosthetics, and all the time, I must think about new places for my veterans,” he said, adding that all 2,200 beds in municipal hospitals are currently full. 

The city expanded access to medical treatment when it opened the Unbroken National Rehabilitation Center, which takes a holistic approach. They help patients through the entire process, from getting surgery to going through rehabilitation and prosthetic training.

Oleksandr said he’s eager to start prosthetic training but also has some fear and self-doubt. He said his wife Katya, and his five-year-old son, Bodhan, motivate him to keep pushing.

They moved from their hometown of Zaporizhzhia to Lviv to be closer to Oleksandr and support him as he goes through rehab. They come daily to visit him. 

“At first I was worried that my son would get scared,” Oleksandr said. “But when he saw me, he said, Dad, where’d your leg go? We need to get you a new one.”

Oleksandr said he also gets strength from the guys in his military unit who have all stayed in close touch. 

He said they give him the courage — after everything he’s been through — to serve again in the military. 

“I was their commander, and they want me to lead them again,” Oleksandr said. 

Editor’s note: Volodymyr Solohub contributed to this report.