One Ukrainian war amputee’s return to civilian life
Oleksandr Revtiukh fires a vicious hook at the seasoned fighter facing him. He’s in the boxing ring, eight months after losing his left arm and most of his left leg in mine blasts while fighting in Ukraine.
Revtiukh follows with a snarling jab. His old life is gone. Only two years ago he had enjoyed a comfortable civilian life as an electronics technician abroad, before he returned to Ukraine to signed up and fight the Russian invasion.
A furious uppercut, bellowing with the effort. The war has left trauma. Now he has to accept what has happened to him and learn to live without his lost limbs.
“It’s like being a newborn child,” the 33-year-old says during a break in training at a gym in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv. “You’ve got to get to know the world from scratch.”
Revtiukh exercises in the garden of the Recovery Rehabilitation Center in Kyiv, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, October 31, 2023. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
Revtiukh boxes during a training session at a gym in Kyiv, Ukraine, February 11, 2024. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
Revtiukh, who has a prosthetic leg, is one of thousands of Ukrainian combat amputees who are having to adapt to a new life as civilians or back in the military.
His sister Natasha films the sparring session with leading Ukrainian boxer Aram Faniyan to upload to her brother’s social media accounts where he’s trying to make his name as a motivational coach for others in his position.
“I can’t be afraid to make mistakes,” Revtiukh told Reuters. “Look for a way out, there is a path through the thorns to the stars. This is my motto.”
A soldier walks with a crutch as he enters a metro station in Kyiv, Ukraine, March 6, 2024. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
Revtiukh, who left a well-paid job in Hungary in April 2022 to return to fight in Ukraine, lost his arm and leg in June last year during the summer's counteroffensive, and narrowly cheated death. He benefited from the support of his family as he underwent surgery and rehabilitation provided by the state.
As for what comes next he must make his own way, in a country where many amputees say that budget constraints, social taboos and a lack of job opportunities are making that transition more difficult.
Ex-soldier and lawyer Masi Nayyem, co-founder of Pryncyp, a human rights organisation representing soldiers, estimated that between 20,000 and 50,000 soldiers had become amputees in Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Official figures are not published and are considered sensitive by the military, but as the war drags into its third year with no end in sight, the numbers will only grow.
Bohdan Tanchyn (center), a former machine gunner in the airborne division of the 25th Brigade who lost one leg fighting Russian forces, shows off his new prosthesis to his friends Dymytro Oliynyk (right) and Serhii at a rehabilitation center in Kyiv, Ukraine, November 15, 2023. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
Andriy Pylypchuk, 28, a Ukrainian serviceman who lost his lost his legs in a mine blast while fighting Russian forces during in 2023, gets ready for swimming practice in Kyiv, Ukraine, November 1, 2023. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
Alona Ivantsiv dresses her husband Anton Ivantsiv, 40, a triple amputee who was injured fighting Russian forces in 2023, after a swimming session in Kyiv, Ukraine, November 1, 2023. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
Shrapnel hits spine
Nayyem said there were too few jobs available for the wounded, and that most initiatives to help them were in cities, leaving maimed soldiers in rural areas and small towns stranded.
“If a person is not integrated, what will they become? They will be depressed, and they will not be able to earn money.”
Ukraine’s Veteran Affairs Ministry, which oversees amputees, declined to give official data on the number of soldiers who had lost limbs. It did not respond to such criticism that it wasn’t doing enough to support amputees once they reentered society after receiving initial hospital rehab with prosthetic limbs.
Revtiukh arrives at his grandmother's house in his hometown, during his first visit after his injury, in Nizhyn, Ukraine, November 24, 2023. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
Revtiukh greets his grandmother in his hometown during his first visit after his injury, in Nizhyn, Ukraine, November 24, 2023. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
Rostyslav Prystupa, a former soldier partially paralysed after a piece of shrapnel hit his spine while fighting in Mariupol, said he was mindful that veterans also had to learn to support themselves in civilian life.
“When you keep doing everything for people, they won’t learn to do it themselves,” he added. “You’re not going to do everything for them their whole lives. Someday I’ll have to do it myself, and then I won’t be able to, and no one will be there.”
Revtiukh embraces his mother during a visit to his hometown of Nizhyn, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, January 19, 2024. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
No regrets: We set example
Revtiukh is close to his family, and recently visited his parents’ home in Nizhyn, northeast of Kyiv. Waiting outside, his grandmother wept as she embraced Revtiukh, whom she had not seen since his arm and leg were torn off in two separate mine blasts.
“My little Sasha. I thank God that you are alive,” she sobbed, using the diminutive of his first name.
Revtiukh described how he was wounded when he triggered anti-personnel mines during chaotic fighting to seize back territory from the Russians in the southern Zaporizhzhia region.
Revtiukh and his sister Natasha talk at their mother’s house in Nizhyn, Ukraine, January 19, 2024. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
A picture of young Revtiukh hangs on the wall at his mother’s house in Nizhyn, Ukraine, January 19, 2024. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
He recalled nearly suffocating from the dirt and shrapnel in his mouth after one explosion, but a fellow soldier, a 22-year-old named Gleb who was also wounded, cleared his airways and saved his life.
As Revtiukh begins his journey into civilian life, the boxing enthusiast is, for now, trying his hand at motivational coaching and ultimately he plans to become a history teacher in his native city of Nizhyn in northern Ukraine.
He has no regrets about the path he has taken, saying he and other veterans like him would set an example for the next generation.
“They’ll look to us as a model in the struggle for independence, freedom of speech and the preservation of human lives.”
Revtiukh (right) pulls fellow wheelchair-bound veteran Bohdan Tanchyn with his electric wheelchair, in the garden of the Recovery Rehabilitation Center in Kyiv, Ukraine, October 31, 2023. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
Birds circle a cathedral before a memorial ceremony for Ukrainian serviceman Oleksandr Matsievskyi in his hometown of Nizhyn, Ukraine, November 25, 2023. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
Rostyslav Prystupa, a Ukrainian marine who was injured in the spine while defending Mariupol, sits in the garden of the Recovery Rehabilitation Center in Kyiv, Ukraine, October 31, 2023. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
Prystupa exercises at the Recovery Rehabilitation Center in Kyiv, Ukraine, October 31, 2023. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
Prystupa exercises at the Recovery Rehabilitation Center in Kyiv, Ukraine, October 31, 2023. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
Veterans who lost legs in combat run on Danish-made Levitate blade prosthetics designed for athletes, at a fitting session in Kyiv, Ukraine, October 24, 2023. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
Prystupa plays football with the inclusive team Ukrainian Football Association, in Kyiv, Ukraine, January 18, 2024. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
Revtiukh exercises with a new prosthesis in Kyiv, Ukraine, January 19, 2024. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
Mango, 28, the head of logistics of an Azov tank battalion who lost his hand in the defence of Mariupol and fell into Russian captivity, poses for a picture on top of a tank at his base in the Donetsk region, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, December 26, 2023. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
Soldiers fire a mortar at a frontline position under the command of Odin, 32, a commander in the 28th Separate Mechanised Brigade, who lost his right lower leg in late 2022 during the liberation of Kherson, in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, January 26, 2024. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
Revtiukh lights a candle in a church in his hometown of Nizhyn, Ukraine, January 19, 2024. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
Officials pull away a Ukrainian flag to reveal the statue of Ukrainian serviceman Oleksandr Matsievskyi, who was executed by Russian troops in 2022, Ukraine, in Nizhyn, Ukraine, November 25, 2023. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
The statue of Ukrainian serviceman Oleksandr Matsievskyi arrives at a central square before a ceremony in his honour in his hometown Nizhyn, Ukraine, November 24, 2023. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
The uniform jacket of Ukrainian serviceman Oleksandr Matsievskyi, who was executed by Russian troops in 2022, is draped over his bed in his home as Revtiukh visits Matsievskyi’s family, in Nizhyn, Ukraine, November 24, 2023. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
Anton Ivantsiv floats in the water during a swimming session in Kyiv, Ukraine, November 1, 2023. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
Revtiukh shows off his boxing moves after spending time in a sauna with a friend in his hometown, during his first visit after his injury, in Nizhyn, Ukraine, November 25, 2023. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
Revtiukh cools off after spending time in a sauna with a friend in his hometown, during his first visit after his injury, in Nizhyn, Ukraine, November 25, 2023. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
Revtiukh sits on his bed in the Recovery Rehabilitation Center in Kyiv, Ukraine, October 31, 2023. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
Friends assist Prystupa as they leave a cafe in his native village of Triskyni, Ukraine, January 21, 2024. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
A man halts traffic on Khreshchatyk Street to assist a friend in a wheelchair to cross central Kyiv’s main thoroughfare, in Ukraine, December 10, 2023. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
A prosthesis leans against a wall in a changing room before a practice session of the inclusive football team Ukraine’s Football Association, in Kyiv, Ukraine, January 18, 2024. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
Prystupa arrives at an inclusive football training session for the Ukrainian Football Association in Kyiv, Ukraine, January 18, 2024. REUTERS/Thomas Peter