A 22-year-old Victor is a commander of the first platoon of the first company of the 25th Airborne Brigade. He is currently in a military hospital in Lviv undergoing treatment for severe injuries. He still has a mine fragment in his spine. The family is collecting money for a difficult surgery, which is planned to be done in Israel.
Victor is a career officer: in 2013, he graduated from Lviv Land Forces Academy named after hetman Sahaidachnyy, Department of Airborne Forces and Military Intelligence.
He was in the ATO zone since March 1, 2014, the start of the conflict. His Brigade’s objective was to liberate several settlements from the militants. On August 16, he, along with his fellow men came under mortar attack near Zhdanivka, Donetsk oblast. Victor was seriously injured during the shelling. He has mine-blast trauma, penetrating firearm shrapnel injury in the left shoulder and the left half of the chest, bruised left lung, thoracic spine and spinal cord. He also has numerous fractures of the left scapula, and of the third and fourth left ribs.
Before the Lviv hospital, Victor was treated in Odessa, where numerous fragments were extracted, but the doctors did not dare touch the biggest one. This fragment is now in the 3rd thoracic vertebrae which has caused involuntary movement in his legs. The legs were moving and spinning so that at night they he had to be tied to bed. His condition started improving in Lviv, where the doctors have conducted preoperative procedures. But anyway, says his stepfather, Victor’s feet get crossed in the morning and they have to be separated and massaged.
Before the war, Victor was active in sports, and he is a strong man. An instructor from the Academy, who visited Victor in the hospital, said that the Victor broke his toe on the eve of his parachuting test but proceeded to jump and passed the exam with distinction.
After the spinal injury, Victor can not raise himself but the doctors are saying that he will be able to walk again. He needs a complex surgery which could be done in the Israeli hospital. But the family lacks money – only transportation would cost tens of thousands of dollars. The family wants to put Victor on his feet.
To contribute toward Victor'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:
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).
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