Soldier Dmytro, callsign KROT

On March 16, 2022, I joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine. I was assigned to the 60th Inhulets Brigade, where I started as an armored personnel carrier (APC) driver, later became a gunner, and eventually a vehicle commander. The war quickly taught us not only how to fight, but also how to survive.

My path began on the Kherson front. That’s where I lost my first APC — an enemy tank hit our vehicle. The crew suffered casualties — some killed, some wounded. I survived, concussed, but refused evacuation. Together with my comrades, we found a damaged captured APC, repaired it right in the field, and went back into battle. We held our positions until the enemy was pushed out from the right bank of the Dnipro in the Kherson region.

Then came Bakhmut. We fought in the forest belts, and later inside the city itself — there weren’t enough infantry, and the vehicles were useless in ruins. Those were days when every dawn could have been our last. But we stood firm — because behind us were our families, our cities, our Ukraine.

After a short recovery, we were redeployed near Kupiansk, and then to the Lyman direction. That’s where I received my first injury at the end of 2024: an FPV drone hit beneath the turret of our APC. The vehicle was saved by the cage armor, I was saved by my bulletproof vest, but the shrapnel and concussion took me out of action for several months. Some fragments remain inside me to this day — a reminder that life hangs by a miracle.

After recovering, I returned. I couldn’t do otherwise.
In the spring of 2025, while working on a position, our APC hit an anti-tank mine. When I regained consciousness, I felt unbearable pain in my leg, and something warm running down my face. The explosion had slammed me into the sight, but the helmet protected my skull and eyes. My foot, however, was destroyed — a “bag of flesh,” as the medics said. One comrade was killed, another and I crawled to cover while enemy drones circled above. That’s when I realized: the main thing is to survive — to keep alive the meaning of those who didn’t.

I was evacuated. The doctors did everything they could, but they couldn’t save my foot — it had to be amputated.

Now my new mission is to learn how to live again. I need specialized rehabilitation at the Western Rehabilitation and Sports Center of the National Committee of Sports for the Disabled of Ukraine. It’s a place where men like me learn to walk, run, and live without pain again — where they regain not only their bodies but also their faith in themselves. But I can’t afford all the expenses on my own, so I’m asking for help.

I will not give up.
My goal is to complete a full rehabilitation course, get my prosthesis, and — if needed — return to duty. Because the war isn’t over. And while my brothers hold the line, each of us must hold our own even on a prosthetic leg.
 

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The fundraiser for rehabilitation for the severely wounded defender Dmytro has been closed. The rehabilitation has been paid for. The course at the Western Rehabilitation and Sports Center of the NCSIU has been fully completed.

We thank everyone who was with us throughout this process, those who donated, those who shared, and those who wrote words of support. All of this added up to real help and produced results that today can be seen not on paper, but in movement, in steps, in confidence.

Special thanks to the team of specialists at the Western Rehabilitation and Sports Center of the NCSIU for their systematic work and professional support for seeing not only the injury, but the person behind it.

Dmytro’s rehabilitation goals were focused on restoring the function of walking, improving its quality, endurance, and strength of the lower limbs. Over the course of the program, stable progress was achieved. His walking speed and confidence improved, his weight‑bearing ability increased, balance was restored, and pain symptoms decreased. Continuation of rehabilitation at his place of residence has been recommended for social and everyday adaptation with ongoing consultations from a physical therapist and prosthetist.

During the course, Dmytro showed clear measurable results. His movement speed increased and endurance improved:

• In the Four Square Step Test, his time decreased from 6.9 to 5.4 seconds;
• In the “Timed Up and Go” test, from 5.5 to 5.3 seconds;
• The time to walk 10 meters decreased from 5.3 to 3.8 seconds;
• In the six‑minute walk test, the distance increased from 535 to 590 meters and the pain disappeared completely.

His balance on the Berg Balance Scale reached the maximum level. Dmytro now better controls weight bearing and movement, and he has become physically more stable and more confident in himself.

We thank everyone who helps our defenders not just survive, but return to life.
Dmytro’s rehabilitation course was funded under the “CYBORGS REHABILITATION 2.0” program with the support of the Canada‑Ukraine Foundation and the National Congress of Ukrainian Canadians (UCC).

 

COLLECTED AND TRANSFERRED: UAH 90,000