Over 20,000 Ukrainians have undergone at least one amputation since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale war

Since the start of the full-scale invasion, 20,000 Ukrainians have undergone at least one amputation, most of them soldiers who also suffered psychological trauma during their time at war.

The head of the rehabilitation center for the Ukrainian military with amputated limbs, Superhumans, Olha Rudneva, stated this in an interview with the Associated Press.

The head of the center says that the need for prosthetics is constantly growing in Ukraine, but there are not enough specialists to meet the growing need. Rudneva estimated that 20,000 Ukrainians have undergone at least one amputation since the beginning of the war, most due to explosive wounds at the front.

Europe has not experienced anything like this since the First World War, and the United States since the Civil War, Rudneva noted. Before the war, only five people in all of Ukraine received rehabilitation training for people with amputations of arms or hands, which are usually less common than legs and feet, as they are sometimes amputated due to complications of diabetes or other diseases.

Rehabilitation centers Unbroken and Superhumans provide prostheses to the Ukrainian military at the expense of donor countries, charitable organizations, and private Ukrainian companies.

"The hardest part for many amputees is learning to live with the pain — the pain from the prosthesis, the pain from the injury itself, the pain from the lasting effects of the blast shock wave," said Dr. Emily Mayhew, who has spoken to several hundred military amputees, throughout her career. She believes that cosmetic surgery is crucial to soldiers feeling comfortable in society. 

"We don't have a year, not two," says facial surgeon Nataliia Komashko, "We have to do it as if it was yesterday."

In turn, the Ministry of Social Policy reported that all Ukrainians who have had their limbs amputated due to the war can start the prosthetics process without waiting for the certificate of disability.

Rubryka reported that the Zhytomyr region, with the support of Estonia, is planning to create a modern rehabilitation center for military and civilian citizens who suffered from Russian aggression, lost limbs, and need rehabilitation.

Rubryka also reported about the "Forest Glade" — a place where Ukrainian defenders are helped to restore mental balance after war trauma. Clinical psychologists, physical therapists, case managers, and other medical specialists work with the military.

Here, the center doesn't treat the so-called contusion with IVs and categorically denies that every second person in Ukraine will have PTSD after the end of the war. Rubryka visited the only institution in Ukraine with such a wide range of assistance to veterans.