Suspile News spent several days with two soldiers whose faces were forever changed by the war. Ilya Pylypenko almost burned to death in a tank. He remembers the swollen face, the skin hanging from his arms, the leg that seemed to dangle by his pants.
"I thought only one thing: 'Get out of the tank.' I was able to get out and my teammates moved me to another one. You can consider me lucky," says Ilya.
Doctors amputated his leg and operated on his face. Now he has accepted his new appearance. In this, Ilya is supported by others who have severe injuries. Together, they rehabilitate and make dark jokes about amputations and scars, says Ilya.
Serhiy Railyan left a class in his university and went straight to the military recruitment office, to prevent the war to come to his native Mykolaiv. He started serving before a full-scale invasion. And on February 24, he was in the east of Ukraine. Serhiy lost his sight and legs - the car blew up on an anti-tank mine right under Serhiy.
While heavily sedated in an artificially induced coma, he saw his wife in his dreams. Lyera was by his side all this time. From hospitalization to hospitalization, Lyera fed Serhiy, held him during critical moments and demanded treatments. Today she is helping him in his rehabilitation.
Author: Oksana Seniv
Editor: Olena Dunyak
Photography: Vladyslav Kravets and Oksana Seniv
Color and sound: Oleksandr Bramskyi
#війна #Україна #ЗСУ #Суспільне
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