They are the ones Russia couldn’t kill.
Ukrainian soldiers who were on the brink of death after losing limbs to Russia’s invading army are now back on the frontlines, equipped with new prosthetics and the determination to protect their country.
Andrii Rubliuk, 38, who lost both his arms and left leg after being blown up by Russians, is one of the many amputees who have volunteered to return to service to stop Moscow’s increasing gains in Ukraine.
“Fighting with arms and legs is something anyone can do. Fighting without them — that’s a challenge,” Rubliuk told the Associated Press.
“But only those who take on challenges and fight through them are truly alive,” he added.
Many of Ukraine’s brigades have at least one amputee soldier on active duty, with Kyiv estimating that around 380,000 soldiers have been wounded in the span of the war, which entered its third year over the weekend.
With Russia’s invasion capturing nearly 20% of Ukraine and continuing strong, wounded veterans find themselves restless in hospital beds knowing their brothers-in-arms are defending their homes without them.
Rubliuk, who was declared medically dead following the Russian blast in the first year of the war, was one of the soldiers who sped through his rehabilitation to rejoin the special forces last spring as a senior sergeant in the Artan intelligence unit.
Outfitted with prosthetics, including hooks in place of fingers, Rubliuk now divides his time training new soldiers in the army and monitoring Russia’s drones.
Powered by determination and duty, Rubliuk said he does not regret his decision if his experience can help someone else avoid the type of damage that befell his body.
“It’s an experience you wouldn’t wish on anyone,” he said.
Maksym Vysotskyi, 42, is a fellow amputee soldier who returned to the frontlines last spring after losing his left leg to a Russian landmine in 2023.
Vysotskyi now serves as the leader of a team operating explosive-laden drones on nighttime missions, the same that have routinely attacked Russian fighters on the frontlines and blown up Kremlin energy facilities.
“You need to come out of this not as someone broken by the war and written off, but as someone they tried to break, but couldn’t,” Vysotskyi said about his return to the army.
“You came back, proved you could still do something, and you’ll step away only when you decide to.”
Despite their eagerness to return to the war, none of these soldiers have any plans to die, with all of them wishing to return home once peace is achieved and Ukraine is forever safe from Russian aggression.
Oleksandr Zhalinskyi, 34, said his dream is to open up a bar in his hometown, with plans to name it “Amputated Conscience,” a nod to his ordeal.
Zhalinskyi was the sole survivor of an infantry company that was hit by a Russian rocket in the fall of 2023, which severed his arm and forced him to walk for miles to an evacuation point as was bleeding out, with the determination to see his family again keeping him awake through the grueling trek.
Unable to rejoin the infantry troops, Zhalinskyi is now tasked with evaluating missions for the company and finding the safest evacuation routes for his fighters.
The indomitable spirit of the Ukrainian soldiers was also on display Friday during retired US Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg’s visit to Ukraine on Friday.
Kellogg, President Trump’s special envoy for Russia and Ukraine, met with 20 Ukrainian amputees at the Irpin Military Hospital, half of whom told The Post that they intended to return to the battle despite losing legs and arms, citing advancements in prosthetics and their fervent will to fight.
With Post wires
