The serviceman had been defending the country from Russian invaders since the very beginning of the war in eastern Ukraine. Being a member of a separate mechanized brigade, he went through the most brutal battles in Donetsk region.

Before being mobilised into the army, the man worked as a press section shift supervisor at Zaporizhzhia Refractory Plant, and then as a ladle operator at Zaporizhstal. In 2019, he left the army, and a year later he returned to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Roman's brigade participated in the battle for Soledar in Donetsk region. Combat duty on 22 August 2022, the military man will remember forever: he blew himself up on an anti-personnel mine and lost part of his leg.

The man underwent six surgical operations, rehabilitation and preparation for prosthetics. Now, Roman is learning to walk on a training prosthesis and is waiting for a permanent one. The prosthesis was ordered for him in Austria under the prosthetics programme of the Saving Lives humanitarian project and Ukraine Prosthetics Assistance Project. The prosthetic procedure itself takes place in Dnipro.

“I am a person who never loses heart. For about a week after the training prosthesis was placed, I felt severe pain. But now, I even drive a car. Doctors say that I got back on my feet pretty quickly. The phantom pain is also worrisome, but it will pass with time, ”says Roman.

After a permanent prosthesis is placed, the man is planning to return to his family in Zaporizhzhia, and, possibly, to Zaporizhstal: “I have a degree in engineering. I have a sound knowledge in metals, as well as furnaces, refractory materials and drawings. That's why I don't give up."