For the Day of Defenders of Ukraine, RECOVERY, the national network of rehabilitation centers founded by Victor and Olena Pinchuk to support Ukraine’s Security and Defense Forces, together with documentary photographers Kostiantyn and Vlada Liberov, created a photo project about the dreams of Ukrainian defenders who underwent rehabilitation at the network’s centers.
Today, the RECOVERY network brings together 20 innovative and inclusive centers where service members receive rehabilitation care free of charge after being wounded. More than 57,000 Ukrainian defenders have already undergone rehabilitation at the network’s centers.
Each story in the project consists of two photographs. The first visualizes the dream or meaningful goal of the person featured — something that became a reference point during recovery. The second shows the path toward it: rehabilitation, daily work, and the effort that goes into returning to a life that is important to them.
“A rolling stone gathers no moss,” — Yurii, who underwent rehabilitation at the RECOVERY rehabilitation center in Cherkasy
On August 2, 2024, I was wounded during artillery shelling and lost a limb. It was difficult for me to adjust to life with an amputation, and I had to rethink many things.
During rehabilitation, they kept telling me, “We’re going to play football.” One day, it stopped being just talk — I went to a training session. For me, it was not only about sports. I once again felt that I could do things, try, and achieve.
Even before I was wounded, I had bought a motorcycle. After the injury, I dreamed of getting back on it. With a prosthesis, I had to learn all over again how to keep my balance and stop. But I got on and rode.
In winter, I climbed Hoverla with my prosthesis to propose to my girlfriend. Now we are expecting a daughter. There is still so much ahead that I want to have time to do.
My grandfather used to say, “A rolling stone gathers no moss.” So if you want something, you have to get up and do it.
“I want to complete my list of dreams,” — Olha, who underwent rehabilitation at the RECOVERY rehabilitation center in Vinnytsia
Even before the war, my life was already busy. I worked in public service for 24 years, and in 2019 I left and started my own business.
In July 2022, I joined the military, and two days later I celebrated my 47th birthday at the military unit. I joined the military of my own accord. For a long time, I looked for a place where I could be useful, and most of all I wanted to join a unit that protects the sky. That is how I found my brigade in Dnipro.
But I have always had another side to my life as well. I graduated from music school, played the piano, and even started composing music myself. As a child, I did ballroom dancing, and later returned to it again as an adult.
In 2019, I wrote down a plan for myself: I dreamed of finishing the musical pieces I had once started, completing the dances I had not had time to finish, and learning to dance the tango. After the injury, I returned to that plan again. When the doctors were fighting to save my arm, I told them, “I will play with it anyway.”
And after the piano, there will be tango. Then, perhaps, badminton and cycling. I also want to sing and take vocal lessons.
I want to remain active until I am one hundred years old, to work, make music, dance, sing — to have time to do everything that interests me. And it seems to me that this is a good reason to keep moving forward.
My motivation after the injury is to live a full life, achieve my goals, and be close to my family. I have always been strong and a source of support for them. I know that my family and my fellow service members need me.
Acknowledgements to the National Philharmonic of Ukraine for its support and for providing the opportunity to conduct the photo shoot.
“Every new stage brings new opportunities,” — Anton, who underwent rehabilitation at the RECOVERY rehabilitation center in Kyiv
After the injury, I could not get up for several months. There was only one question in my mind: how to complete the task. I am a team commander, so I suppose I am used to seeing difficult situations as challenges that need to be overcome. Then new tasks appeared: simply getting up, sitting in a wheelchair, starting to walk.
Because of an infection, there was a high probability that my leg would have to be amputated. I thought: if they amputate it, I will learn to walk anyway. But in the end, the limb was saved.
Now I can walk almost normally, with only a slight limp. I hope that in a month or two I will be able to return to combat duties.
After the injury, I learned to notice the small things that had previously seemed ordinary. When you are lying down, being able to go to the bathroom on your own means a great deal. When you move into a wheelchair, you can do more. And when you are down to one crutch, you can even carry your coffee.
I think you should look not only at what you still cannot do, but also at what you can already do today, even though not long ago it seemed impossible.
I have bigger plans as well. I used to teach and realized that I enjoyed it. After the war, I would like to open or run a school somewhere in a village and educate the younger generation.
“I have so much to do that there’s simply no time to sit down,” — Oles, who underwent rehabilitation at the RECOVERY rehabilitation center in Vinnytsia
After the injury, I spent nine months in hospitals and underwent prosthetic fitting and rehabilitation. At first, I was simply trying to accept myself and understand what my life would be like after the amputation. Then football appeared in my life, even though I had never played it before.
For several months, people kept inviting me to training sessions. Eventually, I agreed — I scored a goal at my first one, and just a month later, my team and I took third place in the spring cup of the League of the Strong. I would really like our team to win the Ukrainian championship in which we are competing.
Right now, my dream is very down-to-earth — to fix up my home. I bought an old house and am renovating it myself. My wife keeps asking when I am finally going to sit down and rest.
“If there is an opportunity, you have to try,” — Ivan, who underwent rehabilitation at the RECOVERY rehabilitation center in Chernihiv
I sustained a severe injury to my left leg, and when they were evacuating me, my right leg was injured as well. I underwent lengthy treatment and many surgeries, and then came to RECOVERY for rehabilitation.
At first, I could only get around in a wheelchair. I still could not walk independently, but I wanted to see Chernihiv. I thought: if there is an opportunity, I should go. And eventually I saw the city together with friends and fellow service members who were there for me and supported me.
Then I tried sitting volleyball. I liked the team spirit and the constant interaction. I met other veterans and guys who had been held in captivity. And thanks to volleyball, I also started traveling to different cities.
In general, I want to talk more about Ukraine and about veterans. I dream of people knowing about us not only in Ukraine but also abroad. If I can help Ukraine, raise money, talk about the war or about veterans’ lives, I am ready to do it. I even want to try modeling. Perhaps that can also be a way to draw attention to Ukraine, our service members, and veterans.
There were many things I had never tried before. Now I think: if there is an opportunity, you have to do it.
“At my first training session, I could barely stay afloat,” — Oleksii, who underwent rehabilitation at the RECOVERY rehabilitation center in Odesa
I was wounded near Bakhmut when our position came under enemy fire. I lay there wounded for four days. I was the only one who survived.
When I regained consciousness, I still did not understand what had happened to me. For a long time, I kept waiting for my arms to grow back. The miracle did not happen, so I had to learn to live with what I had.
In March, I was signed up for swimming at the RECOVERY rehabilitation center in Odesa. Before that, I had never seriously done sports. At my first training session, I could barely stay afloat, but at the second one, I swam 400 meters in the first hour. Later, at an open-water competition, I swam one and a half kilometers.
I do not set big goals for myself. I simply want to live. I want to be able to get up on my own, walk, and do things. I want things to be easier for my loved ones with me, not harder.
And I really want to live to see our victory.
“And I have so much to do!” — Viktoriia, who underwent rehabilitation at the RECOVERY rehabilitation center in Kyiv
While carrying out a combat mission, we were involved in a car accident. The vehicle rolled over several times. I sustained multiple injuries and fractures.
My first dream was simply to get up. I was bedridden, and then I used a wheelchair. For someone who had previously gone to the gym six times a week, traveled a lot, and loved active recreation, it was a very hard blow.
When I was able to get up, my next wish was for nothing to hurt. I wanted to function normally, exercise, and have my ordinary life back again.
My children also motivated me greatly. When four children depend on you, you have to get up sooner and do something. And I have so much to do!
Not long ago, I could not even think about a journey lasting several hours or taking a flight. Now the plates have been removed, I can sit normally — and the dream of getting on a plane and taking a vacation in Bali has become real again.
A dream does not replace professional rehabilitation. But a personally meaningful goal can support motivation and help a person move toward the life that matters to them. It is high-quality, evidence-based rehabilitation that helps restore functions, regain independence, and, step by step, make the things that matter to a person possible again — sports, work, creativity, and an active life.
RECOVERY is a national network of 20 innovative rehabilitation centers where wounded service members receive comprehensive rehabilitation care free of charge.
We thank the defenders of Ukraine — for your strength, for your dreams, and for the future you continue to build for yourselves. May these dreams come true.