UCU Helps Ukraine: Vasyl Melnyk

Vasyl Melnyk was born in the city of Rava Ruska, Lviv region. Vasyl heroically defended the independence of Ukraine at the forefront of fierce fighting. True patriotism has been passed on in his family from generation to generation.

He joined Maidan protests from the early days when the very existence of our country was threatened. Once the first mobilization was announced, he went to the conscription office. He fought in the battalion "Kyiv -2" in the Luhansk region in Popasna, Debal'tsevo , Chernukhino...

Vasyl was wounded on the front line in Volnovakha region. He was thrown about 3 meters mid-air by a shell strike… When he regained conscience he did not feel any pain and was ready to go back into the fight only to realize that he is missing a leg. Luckily, he was promptly treated with first aid by his battalion buddy Sasha. Later, Vasyl was taken to Volnovakha Central hospital where he was operated on. Shasha, who is nicknamed “Skipper” was so distraught by what happened to his best buddy that he started furious shelling of the enemy and succeeded in killing 30 terrorists and destroying their ammunition storage. 

On the 29th of January, after undergoing 3 difficult surgeries in Volnovakha, Vasyl was sent to Kyiv Central Military Hospital where he has undergone further very painful surgeries. 

Vasyl did not call his wife right away. And when he went to war, she did not know. She learned about his involvement at the local funeral of one of the soldiers. She is happy that he is alive. When Vasyl was visited by the military authorities,  he was asked by one general: “Well, have you fought enough?”, ”No, replied Vasyl, I will go back to the frontline as soon I get my preosthesis!”. The general was surprised by the answer and asked if his wife would let him go. Vasyl’s wife said she would as it was impossible to stop him. Vasyl is missing his war buddies and calls them every day. They in turn send him pictures from the frontline. 

Since Vasyl is a volunteer  fighter, he can not get the benefits as a member of ATO and status of a combatant, as well as financial compensation. He is in dire need of  funds to continue his treatment, and most importantly – a good quality prosthesis as the leg injury is very complicated.

To contribute toward Vasyl's treatments and therapies, please visit your branch or contact the call centre at 1.800.461.0777 to make a donation.

Lots of photos of the injured soldiers we are helping can be found on our Facebook page in the album UCU Helps Ukraine.

Read the stories of some of our other heroes:

Andriy, Anton, Oleksij, Yevhen, Yurij, Serhij, and Ruslan.

Questions and inquiries about this initative can be directed to the UCU Helps Ukraine committee, Kateryna Litvinjuk (klitvinjuk@ukrainiancu.com), Michael Zienchuk (mzienchuk@ukrainiancu.com), and Roman Mlynko (rmlynko@ukrainiancu.com).