Posted on Sep 21, 2023
Where Ukraine’s army of amputees go to repair their lives
290
15
2
6
6
0
As Ukraine's counter-offensive grinds on - with limited gains and no decisive breakthrough - the number of amputees in the country is soaring.
There were 15,000 in the first half of this year alone, according to the Department of Health in Kyiv. The ministry won't disclose how many are soldiers. The authorities guard casualty figures closely, but the vast majority are likely to be military.
That's more amputees in six months than the UK had in the six years of World War II, when 12,000 of its servicemen and women lost limbs.
There may be many more to come in Europe's newest war. Ukraine is the most heavily mined country in the world, according to the country's former defence minister, Oleksii Reznikov.
Russia's war is creating an army of amputees here, a conveyor belt of broken bodies.
We meet some of them at a rehabilitation clinic in the capital, Kyiv, and a hospital in south-east Ukraine.
There were 15,000 in the first half of this year alone, according to the Department of Health in Kyiv. The ministry won't disclose how many are soldiers. The authorities guard casualty figures closely, but the vast majority are likely to be military.
That's more amputees in six months than the UK had in the six years of World War II, when 12,000 of its servicemen and women lost limbs.
There may be many more to come in Europe's newest war. Ukraine is the most heavily mined country in the world, according to the country's former defence minister, Oleksii Reznikov.
Russia's war is creating an army of amputees here, a conveyor belt of broken bodies.
We meet some of them at a rehabilitation clinic in the capital, Kyiv, and a hospital in south-east Ukraine.
Where Ukraine’s army of amputees go to repair their lives
Posted from bbc.com
Russia
Ukraine
Posted 9 mo ago
Responses: 2
4
4
0
It is a gradual and valued approach to healing! Many, many military physicians added their expertise to healing the physical wounds. We are less able to heal the psychosocial trauma.
Rich
Rich
(4)
(0)
3
3
0
PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."Alina Smolenska's only thought when her husband Andrii was wounded was to get to his bedside. "I just wanted to be with him, to touch him, to say that he's not alone," she says. "In situations like this, when a person needs support, I would touch their hand."
But when she reached him in hospital that was impossible.
"I saw that Andrii really didn't have his hands, so I just touched his leg and started to talk to him," she says.
"I said: 'We are a family. Don't worry. Of course, there will be some harsh moments, but we are together'."
Hours earlier, Andrii Smolenskyi had been commanding a small reconnaissance unit on Ukraine's southern front."
..."Alina Smolenska's only thought when her husband Andrii was wounded was to get to his bedside. "I just wanted to be with him, to touch him, to say that he's not alone," she says. "In situations like this, when a person needs support, I would touch their hand."
But when she reached him in hospital that was impossible.
"I saw that Andrii really didn't have his hands, so I just touched his leg and started to talk to him," she says.
"I said: 'We are a family. Don't worry. Of course, there will be some harsh moments, but we are together'."
Hours earlier, Andrii Smolenskyi had been commanding a small reconnaissance unit on Ukraine's southern front."
(3)
(0)
Read This Next
Continue with Facebook 
Continue with Google