A father and son, who have been injured in war, pay for the costs of Ukraine’s war.
CHERNIHIV, Ukraine (AP) — In a Ukrainian hospital ward for wounded soldiers, where daylight barely penetrates, a father talks to his injured son for hours. Serhii Shumei (64), never criticised Vitalii’s decision to go to war. Even though Vitalii’s brain was damaged by an exploding artillery round, Serhii still feels pride and not pity.
“I’ve been constantly with him in the last five months, beside him, beside him, beside him,” says Serhii, a retired former soldier himself. “I’m not going anywhere. … except for a smoke.”
Vitalii, a 34 year-old commander of long-range antiaircraft missiles was injured in Donbas, eastern Ukraine. This region has been synonymous with terrible losses in ongoing fighting between Russia and Ukraine. Quite how deadly isn’t known — because neither side is saying. It’s obvious that the cost of the war is high from the number of wounded soldiers who are being taken to hospitals such as the one where Vitalii is.
Both sides have invested troops and resources in the capture or defense of Donbas strongholds. Fighting over months has resulted in a bloody standoff. President Vladimir Putin’s success in Ukraine has been marred by setbacks elsewhere. nearly 11-month invasionRussia seeks some form of localized success in Donbas, even though it may just mean taking control of one or two towns that were pounded to rubble. Russia is looking to Ukraine’s defeat as costly as possible.
Bakhmut and Donbas towns Soledar As a result, they have been transformed into hellscapes. Volodymyr Zeleskyy, Ukrainian President described them as “completely destroyed,” strewn with corpses and craters, and with “almost no life left.”
“This is what madness looks like,” Zelenskyy says.
Vitalii sustained injuries in an additional section of the Donbas frontline on Aug. 25, in Adviivka. Adviivka is approximately 70 kilometers (45 mi) south of Bakhmut. Other explosives were set off by the shell that hit Vitalii’s dugout. Vitalii was struck by a blast that shattered his skull. It is about half the size of a melon. Doctors doubted that Vitalii would ever show any signs of consciousness again after his brain injuries.
Vitalii seems to be more aware of his surroundings. He blinks. He can swallow. But he’s largely immobile.
Serhii refuses give up on him
“We are seeing some progress, getting back on our feet. He says that this is his opinion.
He spends hours by Vitalii’s side, sharing news from battle, reading from books and giving support messages.
They’re sent by grateful Ukrainians who urge Vitalii to “Hold on to life! We really need you!” and say “You are strong! You will manage!”
Serhii says tears roll down Vitalii’s cheeks when he reads them to him. Serhii states that Vitalii started to wiggle his toes in late December. Serhii believes Vitalii is now frowning, which Serhii interprets means that Vitalii is becoming more interested in the things he’s reading.
Serhii also recently reported a breakthrough: Vitalii’s audible responses.
“I’ve started asking him ‘Do you know who I am?’ And he answered ‘Dad’.”
Vitalii is also visited often by Iryna Timofeyeva. She is a volunteer who created Vitalii to collect support messages.
“The love of the family, the attention of other people, very often helps the positive dynamics of the patient,” she says. “It is very important for the wounded that he is not alone. That is how he understands that he has to fight.”
Vitalii, along with other patients, is currently the only one in his ward. Given the intensity of fighting in the Donbas, Vitalii’s bed will not be left empty long. After their wounds have stabilized closer to the fronts, Vitalii’s Chernihiv hospital is where they provide long-term support.
Serhii believes caring for his son is his contribution towards the war effort.
“I will put him back on his feet. This is my dream,” he says.
Inclining to his son’s ear, he asks: “Ukraine will win, we will win, right?”
The answer is silence.
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This report was contributed by John Leicester in Paris and Efrem Lukatsky of Chernihiv.
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Follow AP’s coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine