Recently, war veterans – employees of Metinvest’s Zaporizhzhia enterprises – together with their families, carried out a community clean-up in one of the city’s favourite leisure spots, Dubovyi Hai Park. The event formed part of a programme aimed at reintegration and fostering direct communication within the veteran community.
War veterans, together with their loved ones, chose to spend the day in a family atmosphere while also undertaking a simple yet important task – tidying up the park. Cleaning, painting benches and swings, caring for the trees – here, routine physical work takes on a different meaning. It helps them return to the rhythms of civilian life while also delivering tangible results – their favourite place for walks becomes cleaner, more comfortable, and more pleasant.
“We decided to combine the pleasant with the useful – we socialise, spend time outdoors, and at the same time do some painting and digging round the trees. After all, we keep things in order in our own homes – so our favourite park deserves the same,” says Serhii BZHEZYTSKYI, a war veteran and work allocation specialist at Zaporizhzhia Coke.
For veterans, such gatherings are far more than just shared work. It is about support, unity, and the sense of having someone by your side.
"I spend a lot of time here; I’m very fond of Dubovka, which is why I decided to help our favourite park and the city. We, as veterans, are always ready to lend a helping hand. This is about inner support – we stood together in trenches and dugouts, and now we stand here shoulder to shoulder,” says Yevhenii DUBNYTSKYI, a war veteran and leading specialist in the Logistics and Procurement Directorate at Metinvest Machinery.
Veterans note that after their service, it is especially important to have a community where one is understood without the need for words. It is precisely this kind of support that Metinvest’s initiatives within workplace teams seek to foster.
“It is very good that our company finds the opportunity to bring us together – to help us take our minds off things, to talk, and to do something useful. For the city and for the people alike. We greatly value such meetings,” notes Oleh SLINCHENKO, a war veteran and leading engineer at Metallurgical Equipment Maintenance and Repair Shop-1 of Zaporizhstal.
Metinvest is systematically developing its veteran reintegration efforts, creating opportunities for communication, recovery, and a gradual return to civilian life. Community clean-ups, family events, health programmes, adaptation and rehabilitation initiatives, as well as support for the families of defenders—all form part of a comprehensive ecosystem of care operating across the company’s enterprises.
“Taking part in veterans’ activities helps us keep moving forward – it doesn’t let us stand still. At the enterprise, we are like one family—we work, support one another, and carry on living for the sake of our families. It is indeed vital, after combat experience, to find the strength once again for worthwhile endeavours and for a mental return to civilian life,” says Volodymyr KRAVCHENKO, a war veteran and Head of the Production Dispatch Department at Zaporizhzhia Refractory.
