In a conversation with Ivan Firsov, a war veteran and employee of Metinvest's Ingulets GOK, about how at the age of 28 he went through the hell, was wounded and concussed, and returned to civilian life as a changed man.
The first conclusion Ivan came to when he was on the "zero line" was that he had no problems at all before the war. Since 2015, the young man had been working as a leading engineer in the reliability department at InGOK. On that ominous morning of the 24th of February, he was going to work as usual, but after the first rocket explosions, the fear that had kept the whole country on edge in recent days was unfortunately confirmed. A month after the full-scale war began, the man was called to the military commissariat for the first time, and six months later he was mobilised. That was the beginning of his service.
"I was trained at the general military training area in Cherkasky, and got my first combat experience in Kherson region. At that time, our soldiers were driving the occupiers away from there. Then there was a period of service near Piatykhatky, a little bit in Karachuny in my hometown, and in early December our unit was sent to Donetsk region. It was the hottest in Blahodatne. There, the enemy sprayed heavy fire on our positions without stopping. It was there that I received a concussion and a severe shrapnel wound to my right arm. Thanks to my comrades who provided me with first aid, I did not bleed to death. That day I was born for the second time," Ivan FIRSOV recalls.
It took a long time to save the wounded arm with severed nerve damage. Specialists worked on it in hospitals in Kramatorsk, Dnipro, Novomoskovsk, and Rivne. Eventually, the soldier was sent to the capital, where he underwent a highly complex operation. Then came long months of rehabilitation and a doctor's conclusion: "Unfit for military service due to health condition." Ivan returned home and began to learn to live in a new environment.
"After being at the front, a lot has changed in my life: both physically and mentally. I will say this - my arm saved my life, because it took the brunt of the blow. I am currently learning to write with my left hand and can already drive a car. The older generation always talked about wars, and it was scary to imagine that such things could ever happen in the world. I never thought that I would become a war veteran at the age of 28. Now I know that war is the most terrible problem that can exist. It is a real hell. I have rethought a lot of things for myself," the veteran says.
According to Ivan, the biggest thing that kept his spirits up at the front was the confidence that he was waiting for at home and at work. He kept in touch with his family and colleagues as soon as conditions allowed. Now the man is back at work at the plant, doing the same job as before the war. But given the veteran's health condition, the company helped him organise remote work. Office equipment and office furniture were delivered directly to his home. The engineer keeps in constant touch with his colleagues via corporate email, chat and phone. He is grateful to the team for respecting his combat experience and not forgetting that he is a good specialist.
Metinvest enterprises are waiting for their mobilised employees to return. Veterans' reintegration strategies are being developed to ensure that they return from the military to the workplace as quickly as possible. The first course for veterans' adaptation to civilian life "Heroes Among Us" is being run by the company's managers.
