Heroes Among Us
8/29/2025
War veteran Oleksandr Tsyhanok returned to civilian life after being wounded and undergoing a long rehabilitation
Oleksandr Tsyhanok went through a long and difficult journey back to civilian life. On the advice of friends, he took a job at Zaporizhstal.He defended Ukraine in the ATO and JFO zones, then had a short break in civilian life, which was interrupted by the full-scale invasion."On the very first day of the war, 24 February, I was already at the military unit. Together with my fellow soldiers, we defended Donetsk region: the first point was Vuhledar, then Bakhmut, where we entered the city twice on combat missions. The last place of service was Avdiivka, almost one and a half years on the defence of the city," said Oleksandr.It was near Avdiivka that he suffered a serious injury – damage to the cervical vertebrae. Ahead lay long treatment and rehabilitation."The treatment was long. After the operations, I underwent rehabilitation twice more in sanatoria, working with physiotherapists. Once I had recovered a little, I decided that I needed to find work, to do something useful – if not at