The Ukrainian intelligence officer, who personally experienced all the cruelty of the enemy, is currently recuperating in the National Rehabilitation Center NEZLAMNI in Lviv. He is learning to walk with prostheses and wants to return to the army.
The 32-year-old defender’s name is Ivan Dzyuba – the same as the well-known Ukrainian dissident, who also survived a Russian torture chamber at one time. He comes from Khmelnytskyi. Before the Great War, he worked in Kyiv at an enterprise providing professional car care services. Ivan was mobilized last year in September. He became a scout. At first, his group served in Bakhmut, and then, already in winter, they were transferred to the Soledar district.
In the first combat sortie in a new place, Ivan and his comrades came into the field of view of the enemy. They were shelled and cut off all possible ways of retreat. During the week, the boys hid from the enemy in a forest strip. Water and food supplies quickly ran out, so already on the eighth day they dared to take a risk and leave the shelter. But almost immediately they came across the Wagnerites. One of the three Ukrainian scouts was shot dead by Russian militants, two were captured and held somewhere in the Luhansk region. They immediately began to torture Ivan. Due to electric torture, the little finger on the right hand is actually burned. The captive was also mercilessly beaten on the legs and kept in the cold. The limbs were affected by necrosis – the tissues die off rapidly.
In a local hospital, Ivan’s legs were amputated. After that, he is looked after and bandaged by another enslaved person – a Ukrainian military medic. After 13 days in captivity, Ivan was handed over to the Ukrainian side – without two legs and a finger on his hand.
The scout was treated in Dnipro and Kyiv. Ivan came to the NEZLAMNI center for rehabilitation. Here he received prostheses and is now learning to walk on them. Thanks to daily sessions with a physical therapist, Ivan already walks without crutches. Moreover, if possible, he helps other soldiers who are still in wheelchairs to move. After completing rehabilitation, Ivan wants to return to the army.
Due to Russian aggression, hundreds of people suffer every day, so in order to make their treatment and rehabilitation comfortable and accessible in Ukraine, in Lviv, at the UNBROKEN National Rehabilitation Center, a multidisciplinary team works with every Ukrainian, providing surgical, physical, psychological and psychosocial professional assistance. Thanks to the support of donors, a prosthetics workshop was opened and bionic prostheses are installed, as well as a new modern rehabilitation building: it is 7 floors with the most modern rehabilitation equipment. Every year, 10,000 Ukrainians will be able to receive help here.
Project website: https://unbroken.org.ua/.
Details for donations: https://unbroken.org.ua/donate.html.