Unable To Fight, Two Ukrainian Amputees Walk To Raise Funds For Military Hospital
- By AP
A pair of Ukrainian war amputees have walked across a section of their country to raise money for the hospital that treated their wounds. The veterans both lost limbs fighting against Kremlin-backed separatists who began seizing territory in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region in 2014.
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Ukrainian war veteran Oleksandr Shvetsov, 38, walks along a highway from Zhytomyr toward Kyiv on May 18. He will meet fellow veteran Serhiy Khrapko along the road as the pair walk toward each other covering a total of 120 kilometers and racking up 165,000 steps over five days.
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Khrapko, 45, is given assistance with his prosthesis on the highway. Both Shvetsov and Khrapko suffered serious injuries that resulted in limbs being amputated. They were defending their homeland against separatists in the eastern Donbas region before Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
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The idea for the walk was Khrapko’s after an employee at the hospital told him they were in desperate need of equipment. When he called Shevtsov and told him about his plan, his friend agreed to join him in honor of their wounded comrades.
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Shvetsov rests before setting off on his journey. "This is how we can help our brothers and sisters in arms, and in some way our country. Because our country is really fighting right now. We are all fighting in the ways we can."
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Shvetsov walks toward the Ukrainian capital. When separatists seized government buildings in the Donbas and proclaimed independence in 2014, Shvetsov was called up for service. That same year, he was struck by shrapnel, resulting in his left leg being amputated.
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Shvetsov carries a Ukrainian flag as he walks along a highway toward Kyiv.
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A woman and her daughters greet Khrapko during his walk along the highway. With their journey being followed on social media, the pair were an inspiration to many Ukrainians who started giving them donations.
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Formerly a carpenter making furniture for kindergartens, Khrapko was mobilized in 2014 and served in the 30th Mechanized Brigade. In July 2015, a year after Shevtsov was injured, Khrapko was hit during a mortar attack on the outskirts of Luhansk.
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The severity of Khrapko's injuries resulted in his arm and leg being amputated. He underwent over 20 operations.
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Shvetsov embraces Khrapko as the two meet at the end of their 120-kilometer journey to raise money for medical supplies in memory of their fellow soldiers.
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Khrapko and Shvetsov raised more than 3.1 million hryvnyas ($84,000). Khrapko conceded he may have acquired some calluses after the long journey. "But that's not a high price," he said. "It's a drop in the ocean compared with what is happening in the east."
