KHARKIV, Ukraine (Reuters) -As Britain’s Prince Harry visited Kyiv to support wounded veterans on Friday, dozens of military amputees gathered in Ukraine’s second city, Kharkiv, to take part in a sports competition designed to support soldiers who have lost limbs.
Small groups of men with prosthetic arms and legs competed against each other in endurance tests, cheered on by volunteers and fellow amputees at various stages of rehabilitation.
“I love these games, I love sport and I love to see the guys who I fought with; what they are doing and how they are developing,” said Alex Pivniev, 28, shortly before taking part.
He lost a leg fighting Russian separatists in 2016, long before the full-scale invasion of 2022. Despite his injury, he returned to the military and was part of an anti-drone unit operating in the southern city of Kherson in 2022 and 2023.
The event in Kharkiv, called “Games for Heroes,” is held twice every year, a reminder of the huge toll Russia’s invasion has taken on the Ukrainian military.
The Ministry of Veterans’ Affairs did not immediately respond to a request for information about how many combat amputees there were in the armed forces, but the number runs into the tens of thousands.
Ukraine faces the challenge of supporting them with medical care and physical rehabilitation, as well as longer-term support, including sports programmes and employment.
“That’s why we are doing this volunteer project, so that people believe in themselves and prove to themselves that they have no obstacles,” said Oleksandr Honcharov, who heads the games.
They began in 2015, a year after Russian separatists first pushed into parts of eastern Ukraine. Friday’s event was the 20th edition.
“Unfortunately, there are more and more participants,” Honcharov added, referring to mounting casualties on both sides of the 3-1/2-year conflict.
“We feel our responsibility as citizens of Ukraine, as brothers. And we feel like we have to work harder and harder.”
Before the contest began, participants, friends, and family sang the Ukrainian national anthem. Amid silence, a woman then read out the names of soldiers who had participated in the games but who had since been killed.
“In Ukraine … we know war and we understand it, but many people in Europe don’t seem to understand,” Pivniev said. “The Russians won’t stop at Ukraine. Only time can stop them, or us.”
(Reporting by Mike Collett-White; additional reporting by Anastasiia Malenko;Editing by Rod Nickel)
