LVIV –- Pavlo Martsenyuk, a 34-year-old soldier from Ukraine's Khmelnytskiy region, suffered a severe injury in a mine blast last year near Pokrovsk.
Martsenyuk's unit was preparing to head to combat positions when a mine exploded. It was his third injury, but the most serious -- he completely lost his sight, and doctors had to reconstruct his face and right leg.
In May, American doctors will operate on the veteran for a second time, reconstructing the left side of his face and implanting a second ocular prosthesis.
This veteran is learning to live in a world where he "sees" with his hands. He recognizes the winding corridors of the rehabilitation center and is able to attend his sessions without using the elevator.
Recently, Martsenyuk was home on leave in the Khmelnytskiy region. He felt good there, as his familiarity with his native village allows him to navigate it easily. He managed to go for walks with his dog, a German shepherd named Alpha.
"She can't be a guide dog in the full sense of the word. But she's a very smart dog. Always right next to me; she'll sit and stay still, won't move until I call her. Then she comes over and starts cuddling. I could take her for walks because I know the area -- it's my friend, my little buddy," Pavlo says, laughing.
"But to train a dog to be a proper guide, you really need to start from a young age with special training."
Family Is Everything
His main support and joy come from his family, Martsenyuk says. His wife and their three children -- Anastasia (5), Roman (11), and Viktoria (12) -- visit him often at the rehabilitation center, which brings him comfort and motivates him to adapt to this new reality.
"I used to do everything myself. I need to get used to the fact that I now need help from others. I have to learn a new way of living. That means not being completely passive, but stepping back a little.
"I have to accept my situation with dignity. I'm glad to be alive, and as for not being able to see…I've already seen a lot in my life," says the veteran.
Martsenyuk certainly saw a lot in the past four years of war.
His dream was always to join the army. In 2021, he signed a contract with the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Previously, he worked as a driver and also repaired and sold cars.
"I joined the 95th Separate Air Assault Brigade, served in Zhytomyr, spent three months at the training ground, and then we were deployed to the eastern region," the veteran says.
The full-scale war caught up with him and his comrades in Zhytomyr shortly after they had returned from Toretsk in the Donbas. From there, they faced intense fighting in the Donetsk, Luhansk, and Kharkiv regions. He says that during this time, he fully understood the brutality of the war.
He was first injured in June 2022 in Donetsk, underwent treatment, and took a month's leave. After recovering from a closed chest fracture, he put on his bulletproof vest and returned to the army.
He did the same after his second injury at the end of 2022, which included a spinal injury, a shrapnel wound to his leg, and a torn meniscus. But this time, he transferred to another brigade, the 25th Separate Airborne Brigade.
"After my second injury, I went to serve in the 25th brigade, to hold the line. Unfortunately, I didn’t make it to the combat positions -- in June 2024, an anti-tank mine exploded under my feet. I only remember the explosion, and then I screamed, touched my face, and couldn't feel anything.
"Then I heard that they were giving me medical help. Among the 16 wounded, my case was the most serious. I lost my sight completely, and my leg was shattered," Martsenyuk tells RFE/RL.
Martsenyuk adds that he is grateful to be alive, to be able to talk to and hug his children, and to tell fairytales to Anastasia, his youngest daughter.
