Soldier Oleh Koleukh, callsign TSUNAMI

Since childhood, I knew exactly who I wanted to be. Near my home there was a military base, and I would spend hours standing by its gates, watching the soldiers, collecting caps — Ukrainian, foreign, any I could find. I had relatives in the military, and everyone knew: Oleh would be a soldier. I grew up among people for whom service wasn’t a job, but a calling.

When the Maidan began, I was living abroad. I was about to receive another citizenship, but when the Anti-Terrorist Operation started, I realized I couldn’t live peacefully knowing there was war at home. I didn’t need another country’s passport — my land is here. I dropped everything, packed my bags, and came back. Because when the enemy enters your home, it’s not the time to talk — it’s time to act.

In 2014, I volunteered to join the Aidar Battalion, and in 2015, I officially enlisted in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. When I returned home to Kherson region from Kyiv, I went to the recruitment office on my own. My brother came just to see me off — and ended up enlisting too. We were sent to the Shyrokyi Lan training ground and then to the Soledar area, to a special unit that held the mines. That’s where I received my first serious injuries.

That was when the problems with my knees began. After a shelling, I underwent surgery to reconstruct my cruciate ligament — first with a German implant, then an American one. I also suffered a heel injury, part of which had to be removed. I was treated at the Central Military Hospital in Kyiv. After recovery, I returned to service again — I couldn’t stay home while others were holding the line.

In 2019, I signed a contract with the 9th Battalion “Vinnytsia Skyths.” My son also joined the service. We fought together — on the Svitlodarsk Arc, in Mariupol. Those were difficult years, but I was proud that both of us were holding weapons for our homeland.

After multiple surgeries and injuries, I was discharged for health reasons. One paper arrived — “dismissed” — no payments, no explanations. Then the COVID lockdown began, and everything was put on hold. But I didn’t break.

Over the years, I’ve undergone endoprosthetic replacement of both knee joints, and fragments still remain in my body — in the bones, neck, even head. But now the situation has become critical.

A mechanical complication has developed, caused by aseptic loosening of the right knee endoprosthesis. Simply put, the implant is no longer anchored in the bone — the bone is deteriorating. The doctors are clear: the bone is crumbling day by day, and if I don’t have surgery soon, I could lose my leg.

I urgently need surgery — the removal of all old prosthesis components and the installation of a revision endoprosthesis. The doctors are ready to perform the operation free of charge, but I need to purchase the implant myself — its cost is far beyond my means. That’s why I have to ask for help.

Despite the pain and limitations, I haven’t been idle. When my health no longer allows me to fight, I hold another front — the front of helping the army. I now run my own charitable foundation, through which I support my fellow soldiers. Because even if I can’t stand in the trenches, I can still stand beside those who do.

I’m not used to asking for myself. But now it’s not about comfort — it’s about survival. I want to save my leg, to walk, to work, to be useful. I want to keep helping the army, to stand with my brothers-in-arms — even if it’s on a different front.
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The fundraiser for endoprosthetics for defender Oleg Kolehukh, call sign TSUNAMI, has been successfully closed. The implant has been purchased. The surgery took place. Now recovery is underway — a difficult but very important path toward a full life.

We thank everyone who stood by him at this moment, those who donated, those who shared, those who wrote words of support. It all mattered. And all of it has contributed to a result that today exists not just on paper, but in the real life of a person.

Special thanks to the medical team and rehabilitation specialists for their professionalism, attentiveness, steady hands, and confident decisions. For taking responsibility where the stakes are very high.

There is still work ahead. But the most important thing has already happened: there is a chance to live without pain, to move, and to be useful and needed.

We believe in Oleg. And we will continue to stand with him.

 

COLLECTED AND TRANSFERRED: UAH 154,870