Oleksandr DARMOROS (Khmelnitsky, Ukraine):
"I LOST MY SIGHT AND A LEG, BUT EVEN IF I HAD KNOWN THIS IN ADVANCE, I WOULD HAVE STILL GONE. DOING NOTHING WOULD HAVE BEEN EVEN MORE UNBEARABLE."
"At first, we were in New York, then in New Haven for examinations at Yale—clinic after clinic—and unfortunately, everywhere they said there was still no chance of restoring my vision. However, everyone agreed on one thing: it was necessary to reconstruct the structure of my face to prevent further damage. This reconstruction wasn’t for aesthetics but for functionality: to enable the placement of eye prostheses, which again weren’t for appearance but to prevent infections from developing."
Sergіy TOVSTYK (Pidgorodnie, Ukraine):
"I AM A RADIO AMATEUR, AND NEXT YEAR I WILL CELEBRATE 30 YEARS OF BEING ON THE AIR. GREETINGS TO ALL RADIO ENTHUSIASTS AND FELLOW AMATEURS AROUND THE WORLD! MY CALL SIGN IS UR7EX. BEST REGARDS, SERGІY".
On September 13, 2014, during the battles near the settlement of Krasnyi Partizan in the Donetsk region, Serhiy Tovstyk sustained severe injuries during a mortar attack. He lost his left arm at the scene, and his right arm was amputated in the hospital due to critical injuries.
Valerii OSTAPCHUK, Serhii ARTEMENKO,
Servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
Valerii and Serhii are Ukrainian soldiers who share their memories of the war. Valerii, 57 years old and a father of two, and Serhii, 34 years old and a father of three, recount their journey from peaceful lives to the frontlines. These stories are not only about combat but also about the decades-long struggle for independence, echoing the memories of those who endured the repressions of Stalin's camps. Their accounts provide insight into how the fight for freedom began long before the current events and continues to this day.
Oleksandr K. (name changed):
"WHEN WE WERE TAKEN OUT OF THERE,
THE FIRST THING I DID WAS GET A TATTOO —
MY CHILD’S NAME AND HER YEAR OF BIRTH..."
Let’s just say my child is my stimulus. For him, I’m ready to do anything because I want him to live and not see or hear the horrors of war or hear that his father is gone. Even if I’m not there, my child must have a future, and I must work toward that. I want my daughter to have children, and for my mother and grandmother to see grandchildren and great-grandchildren. That’s what drives me. That’s what pushed me to join the army.
Olga SOKOLOVA, mother of severely injured Roman SOKOLOV,
Sviatenko Rehabilitation Clinic (Pereiaslav, Ukraine):
"WE DROVE ALONG A ROAD LINED WITH DESTROYED CIVILIAN CARS, AND A WEEK LATER, THAT ROUTE WAS ALREADY CLOSED."
We are from the Kharkiv region, from the city of Vovchansk. When the war began on February 24, 2022, we found ourselves in occupied territory on the very first day. My husband was serving in the Armed Forces of Ukraine at the time, and my son was studying at the National Guard Academy. Both of them were on duty. My daughter and I spent a month and a half under occupation—no electricity, no communication. We lived in our house and cooked food over a fire. With great difficulty, we managed to leave.
Alla and Vyacheslav SVYATENKO
Sviatenko Rehabilitation Clinic (Pereiaslav, Ukraine):
EACH ONE OF THEM LEAVES A MARK ON YOUR HEART—BOHDAN, ROMA, SERHII, SASHA... THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS SIMPLY BEING ADMITTED, TREATED, REHABILITATED, DISCHARGED, AND FORGOTTEN.
We have been carrying the burden of war since 2014. My work has primarily been in field medicine, mostly on combat positions, while my husband served as a doctor in a hospital, heading the psychoneurological department where both rehabilitation and treatment were provided. However, seeing the issues within the state healthcare system, we decided to leave it behind and begin building our own medical practice—one that the soldiers themselves would want: familial and supportive.
Serhiy KUSAY, Volodymyr PODOLNY,
Sviatenko Rehabilitation Clinic (Pereiaslav, Ukraine):
"THE DOCTORS SAID HE WOULD REMAIN IN A WHEELCHAIR FOREVER,BUT HE'S ALREADY WALKING!"
The results are there; the guys are recovering. It's incredibly upsetting when they return to the frontlines without completing their rehabilitation. Recently, we had Oleksandr, who hadn't fully recovered yet—his arm was still not functioning properly—but he was forced to go back into service. And now we've received the news that he's gone. It was so unexpected... For us, it's indescribably hard because we invest so much in each of them, doing everything possible to restore their ability to move, to communicate, and then suddenly everything falls into an abyss... These are truly difficult moments.
Stepan KATKALO,
Orthodox Church of Ukraine (Novomyrhorod, Ukraine):
"IN OUR CHURCH, WE ARE BUILDING
A UKRAINIAN WORLD"
Unfortunately, we have to bury many of our boys. For such a small town, it is far too many. When you see mothers, fathers, brothers, and sisters mourning the grief that has come into their family, you empathize deeply. It is very hard, incredibly painful, to realize that there is no global reason for such a brutal war—only the whims of a few individuals who simply want to erase the Ukrainian people from the face of the earth.
Vasyl MISHCHUK (Dnipro, Ukraine):
"PERHAPS THIS GREAT WAR
WAS SENT TO MAKE THOSE WHO SMILED AT THE MENTION OF THE ATO WITNESS BUCHA…"
I told my relatives, "Your checkmarks on the ballots have turned into crosses on the graves." When I found out who my nephew had voted for, I said to him, "Don’t you think that this terrible disaster might come to you, to this very house, the one where I was born and where you were born, your parents’ house?" He laughed—ha-ha, hee-hee: "Uncle, what are you even talking about? Who would care about the villages in the Kherson steppe?" Well, now he’s seen for himself who cares—he had to flee, and it’s a good thing he managed to get his family out in time.
