Revolution, occupation, war and acts of terrorism that happened over the past seven years have changed Ukraine forever. WOUNDS is a documentation of Ukrainian soldiers and Euromaidan activists who have been severely wounded and maimed while defending their nation, their homes and their families.
Some of these men suffer from burns, excruciating pain, others lost their ability to walk, while others are double or triple amputees. Many are battling post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and others are addicted to painkillers. Each of these men has several things in common: Pain – severe physical and emotional pain – and the daunting task of adapting to the post-injury life.
Officially, no less than 13,000 people have been killed in the war and approximately 2 million people have been displaced. A central goal of this project is to create a better understanding of the consequences behind these numbers, and more specifically, how the Ukrainians will be affected by the revolution and the war for generations. This war will not end quickly. It will continue with alternating intensity for many years.
The objective of the project is to encourage Ukrainian society to focus on the wounded soldiers’ need for reintegration, lack of social programs and lack of infrastructure in Ukraine for the physically disabled. It is also designed to help Ukrainians realize the enormous price of their independence and freedom.
Viacheslav Buinovskyi, 41, whose right hand and right leg were amputated, walks toward a close friend as he takes some of his first steps using a prosthetic leg at Ortotech Service, a prosthetics workshop in Kyiv’s Podil district. Viacheslav worked as a mechanic in Sumy Oblast prior to the Euromaidan Revolution, in which he took an active part. After the Maidan, he volunteered for the Aidar Battalion and was severely wounded near Luhansk in September 2014. Kyiv, Ukraine, February 10, 2015
Roman Kubyshkin, a 41-year-old construction worker, was fastened and raised into a vertical position to rehabilitate his feeling of space and balance. This helped stimulate his brain to begin communicating with his body. Mr. Kubyshkin joined Right Sector volunteer battalion and was based in Pisky, a village near the remains of the Donetsk International Airport. Shells fired by Russia-backed separatist forces on January 22, 2015 nearly killed him; in fact, his fellow soldiers thought he was dead due to a severe head trauma in which Roman lost much of the right side of his brain.
“Sixteen clinics refused to take Roman because his condition was critical. Nodus was the only one who admitted him,” said his mother Iryna. Roman was cared for at Nodus, a modern neurological and neurosurgical rehabilitation center located in Brovary, outside of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv. His monthly care cost approximately 70-80,000 UAH, ($3,000 – $3,300), which was largely covered by donations and volunteers.
“In three months my son has gained 10 kg and his face and body looked completely different. He looked almost like a healthy person”, said Roman’s mother. Roman completely lost the ability to move and communicate. At times he could carry out basic commands such as squeezing a hand or blinking two times in a row that confirmed that he recognized a person who was looking at him. Roman breathed through a tube in his neck and he was fed through another tube that delivered food directly into his stomach. Brovary, Ukraine, July 28, 2015
Roman held on for over six years and passed away on June 2, 2021.
«A prosthetic was ready for me in December 2014, but I did not stand on it for almost half a year. I was simply lethargic. My attitude was like this: I had a leg, and now I do not have a leg. I did not even want to wear it. I stayed home and did not want to do anything. In August 2015, I went for rehabilitation to Austria and in four days began to walk on the prosthetic. Back home, I had no motivation, but now I did not want to let down my doctors or my parents. The doctors put me on my feet and showed me some exercises. I pulled it together and began to walk, began to travel around Ukraine, began exercising, appeared in magazines and began meeting new people. It is important not to be idle.»
Ukrainian army veteran Andrii Zabihailo, 28, of Kryvyi Rih, takes part in a new fitness program for wounded soldiers at a CrossFit Banda gym in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv. The aim of the program is to give wounded veterans a place to work out, a community and to show that life doesn’t end after being wounded in war. Prior to the war, Andrii worked as a police escort for Ukrainian Railways. In May 2014, he quit his job and joined the army where he served in the 17th Tank Brigade as a commander of a BMP-2. Andrii was severely wounded while carrying out his duties when an RPG hit his brigade’s position. Kyiv, Ukraine, May 26, 2016
“If I was not a patriot, I would not have joined the army.”
Taras Mokliak, 23, a grenade launcher operator from Ivano-Frankivsk. He is comforted by Natalia, a close friend, at the Kyiv Military Hospital shortly before traveling to Germany for further medical treatment. Taras was mobilized in May 2014, and was wounded in the village of Starodubne. He has severe abdominal and pelvic injuries. Kyiv, March 19, 2015
“Our life has changed completely,” said Svitlana Kapusta, 29. Svitlana wipes the forehead of her husband, Sergeant Serhii Masan, a Ukrainian paratrooper from the southern Ukrainian region of Mykolaiv, as he recovers in a hospital in Dnipropetrovsk. Sgt. Masan sustained burns to 70% of his body and lost several fingers in a grad rocket attack in the village of Dyakovo in Luhansk Oblast near the Russian border. He spent approximately three months in the war zone and asserted that his brigade was frequently fired upon with grad rockets launched from the Russian Federation into Ukraine.
Dnipropetrovsk, September 29, 2014
Dr. Vyacheslav Mykolayovych, a surgeon at the Kyiv City Burn Center, prepares to perform a skin graft on Vadym Dovhoruk, 23, a Special Forces soldier from Kyrovohrad. Vadym was near Debaltsevo when his unit was shelled on the second day of the armistice commonly referred to as Minsk II. He was wounded in the attack and also suffered severe frostbite after spending three days in forest before being detained by Russia-backed separatist forces. He is now a triple amputee.
“We were ambushed. I was informed yesterday about all the guys. Two others and I went missing. One of them was buried yesterday. Another one is in morgue in Dnipropetrovsk, but his parents have not yet claimed his remains. They seemed to recognize him, but are still waiting for the DNA test results. He was our commander.” Kyiv, Ukraine, March 25, 2015
Volodymyr Honcharovskyi, 31, married with 4 children, is kissing his wife in their home in Khmelnytskyi Oblast. On February 20, 2014, while attempting to reach out to wounded demonstrators who had been shot by the security forces in central Kyiv during the Euro Maidan Revolution, Mr. Honcharovskyi was shot three times – twice in the back and once in the right arm. He underwent multiple operations in Ukraine and Germany, but still has significant and persistent issues, including extreme pain throughout his body due to nerve damage. This often prevents him from receiving physical therapy. Khmelnytskyi Oblast, Ukraine November 17, 2014
“I learned how to give myself injections, so I don’t disturb my son, wife or mother in the middle of the night.” Volodymyr Honcharovskyi administers a dose of nalbuphine, a powerful painkiller, as his son Nazar is sleeping. A daily dose consists of 1 or 2 injections. At times, Volodymyr administers up to six injections in a day. February 6, 2015
On February 20, 2014, while attempting to reach out to wounded demonstrators who had been shot by the security forces in central Kyiv during the Euro Maidan Revolution, Volodymyr Honcharovskyi, 31, was shot three times – twice in the back and once in the right arm. He underwent multiple operations in Ukraine and Germany, but still has significant and persistent issues, including extreme pain throughout his body due to nerve damage. This often prevents him from receiving physical therapy.
“I pray and place my hope in the Lord that he will help me to stand on my legs”
Volodymyr Honcharovskyi is sitiing in church after his son’s Christening. Teofipol, Khmelnytskyi Oblast, November 16, 2014
On February 20, 2014, while attempting to reach out to wounded demonstrators who had been shot by the security forces in central Kyiv during the Euro Maidan Revolution, Volodymyr Honcharovskyi, 31, was shot three times – twice in the back and once in the right arm. He underwent multiple operations in Ukraine and Germany, but still has significant and persistent issues, including extreme pain throughout his body due to nerve damage. This often prevents him from receiving physical therapy.
“One hundred people were killed while I was just wounded. I thank God I survived.”
Volodymyr Honcharovskyi propels himself in his wheel chair outside his village home. Svyatets, Khmelnytsky Oblast, December 10, 2014
On February 20, 2014, while attempting to reach out to wounded demonstrators who had been shot by the security forces in central Kyiv during the Euro Maidan Revolution, Volodymyr Honcharovskyi, 31, was shot three times – twice in the back and once in the right arm. He underwent multiple operations in Ukraine and Germany, but still has significant and persistent issues, including extreme pain throughout his body due to nerve damage. This often prevents him from receiving physical therapy.
BIO
Joseph Sywenkyj (b. 1978) is an American photographer of Ukrainian descent. Among his many awards, Joseph received the prestigious W. Eugene Smith Grant in Humanistic Photography in 2014. From 2014 to 2016, Joseph was a Fulbright Scholar in Ukraine documenting severely wounded Ukrainian soldiers and activists.
Joseph’s work has been exhibited in numerous galleries and museums including Musée de l’Elysée in Lausanne (Switzerland); Les Rencontres d’Arles in Arles (France); George Eastman House in Rochester (New York, USA) and the United Nations Visitor’s Lobby in New York City (USA) among many other venues.
Joseph’s photographs have appeared in many of the world’s most respected publications such as: Bloomberg Businessweek, Conde Nast Portfolio, Forbes, GQ, Newsweek, The New Yorker, Stern, Time, The New York Times and The New York Times Sunday Magazine etc.