"I am boxing without leg and prosthesis": story of soldier who was injured by Russian mine in Luhansk Oblast
Denys, a 29-year-old National Guard soldier, stepped on a Russian mine while on duty in Luhansk Oblast on 9 May this year, losing his right leg.
Less than three months later, Denys put on a prosthetic leg and took his first steps without the crutches. Now he dreams of returning to the army, according to the Dnipro Brigade of the National Guard named after Major General Oleksandr Radiyevskyi.
The soldier received the alias Denchyk at the front. In 2020, Denys resigned from military service in the National Guard, where he had served under contract for eight years.
At the end of February 2022, Denys decided to join the ranks and returned to the army.
"I met 24 February at home. At first, at 05:00, a colleague called me and said that one of the military facilities near my house had been hit. After three to five minutes, I received another call and was told that the war had started," Denys recalls.
He underwent additional military training and then went to the contact line.
Denys joined the 31st Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine and was promoted to the position of chief sergeant of the second operational battalion.
"For a certain period of time, we were preparing for the defence of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk in Donetsk Oblast, and at the same time we were performing additional tasks in three other oblasts. We went through Donetsk, Kharkiv and Luhansk oblasts," the soldier says.
Denys says the hardest time was last winter near Bakhmut and near the village of Zorynivka in Luhansk Oblast, where he was injured on 9 May.
"During one of my combat missions, my brother-in-arms and I were walking in the woods - he was first, I was behind - and I stepped a little to the left or right and came across an anti-personnel mine," says Denchyk.
He recalls that when he recovered from the explosion, he rubbed his eyes from the sand, saw that his foot was missing, and put a tourniquet on it.
Denys regained consciousness on 10 May in a hospital in Sloviansk.
"The head of the hospital told me: I understand everything; I'm glad that people come to see you every day, but I don't have to queue up behind them to make a bandage for you," Denys smiles.
The rehabilitation process began with boxing. The soldier says that this sport helps him learn to keep his balance without a limb. It also helps to prepare for the prosthesis.
On 6 August, Denys took his first steps on the prosthesis without crutches.
"I found a way to overcome some of my fears to go and defend the state. I do not believe that I will not be able to find the strength to resume my full life.
I want to return to my unit, to the brigade, and I hope that I will be able to perform the relevant tasks in the position I was in. I feel like I belong there," Denys added.
Background: A soldier who was seriously injured in mid-February 2023 when a bullet lodged near his heart recovered and returned to the front.
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