‘Relief from everyday life’: How soccer is helping Ukrainian soldiers who have lost limbs in the war against Russia
CNN
Breathing heavily, Oleksandr Malchevsky puts on his prosthesis and hurries home to his wife and son. The 39-year-old has just lost a football game, but he is not too upset. For him, football is more than just a game – it’s about helping his rehabilitation as he adjusts to civilian life.
Breathing heavily, Oleksandr Malchevsky puts on his prosthesis and hurries home to his wife and son. The 39-year-old has just lost a soccer game, but he isn’t too upset. For him, the sport is more than just a game – it’s about helping his rehabilitation as he adjusts to civilian life. Malchevsky is a Ukrainian soldier who lost part of his leg fighting in Eastern Ukraine. He voluntarily joined the army when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 and served as a gunner. Last year in the Kharkiv region, he came under mortar fire and was seriously injured. The doctors saved his left leg but had to amputate part of his right limb. After a year of painful rehabilitation, Malchevsky returned to Kyiv – his native city – and joined the soccer team with other soldiers who had lost limbs fighting for Ukraine. “All my life, I played football in this stadium. When I returned with an injury from the frontline, I was unsure what to do. I joined the team, and I have to say that I’m happy. Here I get a moral relief from everyday life,” Malchevsky, who was discharged from the army for health reasons, told CNN Sport. Amputees, both civilians and soldiers, play football at the small Bannikov Stadium in the center of Kyiv every Thursday. The sessions normally run for two hours and allow the amputees to practice skills, perform strength and conditioning exercises and play games. The Ukrainian Football Federation organized this initiative a few months ago to support soldiers who lost limbs and help their rehabilitation and return to normal life. There are both men and women. Some of them were injured after the 2022 invasion, while others lost limbs following the start of the war in Ukraine in 2014.
