In Ukraine, fighting at the front has dragged on for more than two years, while soldiers continue to return home, sometimes with life-long injuries.
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In Ukraine, everywhere in the streets of the country we come across former amputee soldiers, wearing prostheses, or moving around in wheelchairs. But the country does not seem ready to deal with so many war-disabled people. In any case, not according to Oleksandr Popyk. He still has both legs, but they haven’t responded for a year and a half.
In his wheelchair at home, he recounts his arrival in Bakhmout, at the start of the war. Wounded for the first time, he was hospitalized for three months, but after five days, Oleksandr cut off his cast himself and returned to the front. In October 2022, in the middle of an assault, he was hit by tank fire.
The motorbike as an outlet
“It left a 17 centimeter hole in my spine, the spinal cord was affected.” Taken to Dnipro, then to kyiv, and as far as Poland, doctors remove part of the shards from his body, but the diagnosis is clear : “I was told I would never walk again.”
Oleksandr suddenly writhes in pain, silently. He pushes his hand hard into her thigh. Suffering distorts his face. “It’s normal, he said, it’s like that all the time. I have spasms, cramps, constantly. Every day for a year and a half. I never sleep properly anymore, neither at night nor during the day, despite taking sleeping pills.” He takes lots of medicationbut what really helps him is the motorbike. “I continue to do it, even in this state. My wife tapes my legs to the bike, and off I go.”
“The State needs you when you are at the front, but if you come out disabled, no one will take care of you.”
Oleksandr Popykat franceinfo
To ease his suffering, he would need a neuro-stimulator, but it costs 17 000 euros “and the state doesn’t care. I have to find this money myself.”, laments Oleksandr. He already fighting to receive his disability pension and rearrange his house, install an access ramp for his chair. The bathroom was redone by his wife and her friends, who removed the shower tray and raised the sink. “We paid for all of this out of our pocket”explains Oleksandr.
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Oleksandr knows a lot of armchair soldiers like him. For him, Ukraine is not ready to face this challenge. But if he had to do it again, he would go back, he assures, while his wife, Katia, guarantees that she would not let him go again. : “That’s enough of it. He’s already suffered too much.” Oleksandr, however, insists, his place is at the front. “Put caterpillars on my chairhe said and I’m going to attack again.”, he promises.
When Ukraine cannot take care of its soldiers who have become disabled. Report by Agathe Mahuet