For war wounded in Ukraine, disabled sport as a tool to “want to continue living”

The Paralympic Games ended on Sunday, September 8 in Paris. France finished 8th in the nations ranking, just behind Ukraine, 7th. In this country, para-sport is an essential tool for the rehabilitation of thousands of soldiers wounded in war.

It is on the banks of the Dnieper River that Oleksandr trains every week. He discovered rowing at this Kiev club shortly after losing his leg on the front. “What has rowing brought me? I am more robust. I am in good physical and mental shape. And maybe I have become calmer.”he says. Effort, discipline, rigor, rowing allowed him to overcome the trauma of a war injury.

Olexandre has made it his mission to convince veterans like him to take up parasport. “When they are in the rehabilitation phase, we take them with us to competitions. They need to talk, to meet people. And then, like that, they don’t stay in the hospital, staring at the ceiling or the screen of their phone.”

Sponsoring war wounded, taking them by the hand as early as possible, is a system that the Ukrainian Paralympic Committee has been implementing for years. “When you have next to you, during your rehabilitation, a Paralympic athlete, an amputee or visually impaired, but who is an accomplished person, a champion in his sport, well you can only feel motivated. It allows you not to give up, to want to continue living and to envisage a fulfilling life”explains spokeswoman Natalia Haratch.

However, rehabilitation through sport requires resources. However, the Ukrainian state’s finances are drained. The Paralympic Committee specifies that the budget allocated to parasport will be cut in half in 2025. The consequences could be disastrous. “The rehabilitation and reintegration of seriously injured soldiers must be a priority, because if the State does not take care of them today, tomorrow we will have suicides, alcoholism and an increase in crime,” regrets Olexandre.

“The state must think about the future of veterans.”

Olexandre, veteran

Especially since the number of seriously injured soldiers currently number in the thousands. Perhaps even tens of thousands. The exact number is kept secret by the authorities.