THE NATIONAL UNION OF
JOURNALISTS OF UKRAINE
“We were standing 150 meters from the enemy. A mortar shell landed right at our feet. I was thrown against the wall of the trench. When I came to and raised my head, I realized my legs were gone.”
These are the words of Viktor Dykyi, a Ukrainian serviceman. He has been defending his country against Russia’s aggression since 2014, when Russia first invaded eastern Ukraine and annexed Crimea. His story is proof that the body may lose a part of itself, but the spirit—never.
His story was reported by Nove Zhyttia (“New Life”), the main newspaper of the Blyzniuky community in the southern Kharkiv region, as part of its coverage of local residents serving in the armed forces. For more than 90 years the outlet has been the primary source of news for the area, and during the full-scale war it has continued to report on the security situation, humanitarian aid, and the lives of people in communities near the front line.
Terrified of Losing His Arms or Legs
Viktor Dykyi, a father of three, is originally from Blyzniuky—a small settlement in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, an area that has been close to the front line of fighting for much of the war. He was active in sports from childhood.
When Russia first invaded Ukraine in 2014—seizing Crimea and backing separatist forces in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine—Viktor volunteered to serve in the Artemivsk Battalion, one of many volunteer military units formed by Ukrainian citizens in the early days of the war.
In 2015, while breaking out of an encirclement in Debaltseve—a strategic railway hub in the Donetsk region that saw some of the fiercest fighting of the early war—he was wounded for the first time. He survived. After recovering, Viktor threw himself into sports even more intensely, constantly pushing his limits. It was as though he was trying to walk and run enough for a lifetime.
“When I went to fight in 2014, I was terrified of losing my legs or my arms,” Viktor says.
After his injury and return to civilian life, he decided to try competing in the Invictus Games—an international sporting competition for wounded, injured, and sick military personnel and veterans, founded by Prince Harry of the United Kingdom in 2014. The experience, Viktor says, changed the way he saw the world. He witnessed extraordinary people—people missing legs, arms, or with severe bodily damage—showing incredible willpower.
“They came to the Games not to win competitions, but to win the battle against themselves—against the physical limitations caused by their injuries. So when the full-scale invasion started in 2022, I picked up my weapon without any of the old fears about the possibility of becoming disabled,” he adds.
Viktor Dykyi met Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 with a calm resolve. He had long sensed that Russia would not stop at what it had started in 2014. His original unit, the Artemivsk Battalion, was already fully staffed, so he joined the Donbas Battalion of the National Guard of Ukraine.
The Most Terrifying Day—and the Strongest Decision
In the winter of 2023, Viktor’s battalion was fighting near the city of Kreminna, a contested city in Ukraine’s Luhansk region that has been the site of prolonged trench warfare. Viktor recalls:
“We were standing 150 meters from the enemy. A mortar shell landed right at our feet. I was thrown against the wall of the trench. When I came to and raised my head, I realized my legs were gone. I glanced at my watch—1:50 p.m. I saw people rushing around me, but no one was coming to help me. I figured that meant I was the most critical case, and that the last thing I would ever see in my life would be those pine trees on the horizon. Some time later, I looked at my watch again—2:00 p.m. So I’m alive. And then it hit me: I have a chance to survive. I started calling for help…”
His comrades applied three tourniquets to his body—because in addition to his legs, which were hanging on by nothing but skin, his arm was severely damaged. They called an evacuation team and sent the critically wounded soldier to a stabilization point in Lyman, a nearby town used as a medical staging area for casualties from the front.
“Our combat medic, Olenka, was performing the necessary medical procedures and kept repeating that everything would be all right. I believed her. I asked them to get me to the hospital alive, because I had promised my daughter that I would dance at her wedding,” Viktor says.
At the hospital, both of his legs were amputated. He was then transferred to another city for further surgery.
“My legs were amputated below the knee, but prosthetics for that kind of amputation don’t exist in the standard range, so the doctors suggested cutting higher, above the knee. I agreed. Even then, I knew with absolute clarity that I would learn to walk on prosthetics no matter what it took. More than that—I would run!” Viktor emphasizes.
The Fight for a Full Life
Viktor received mechanical prosthetic legs through a Ukrainian government program and began learning to walk all over again. His family became his steadfast support: his sons, his daughter, and his wife. Despite excruciating physical pain, he did exercises every day, strapped on his prosthetics, and kept practicing walking. And in his dreams, he ran, jumped, danced, carried his wife in his arms, and tossed his little daughter into the sky.
Today, he can walk and continues rigorous training in the gym. At first, with his mechanical prosthetics, he could not move freely. “On those ‘legs,’ you can’t even step over a curb, let alone move quickly or fulfill my dream of running a 42-kilometer marathon,” the veteran says.
Now Viktor has electronic (computer-controlled) prosthetics. “I was fitted with prosthetics at Superhumans—a nationwide Ukrainian center for war trauma that has been operating since 2022. It specializes in prosthetics, reconstructive surgery, rehabilitation, and psychological support. I walk a lot more on my new legs now, but my main way of getting around is still my wheelchair. The war has created many people like me. And so, like everyone else in my situation, I sometimes run into misunderstandings and difficulties accessing social services.”
He admits that it feels uncomfortable when he catches people giving him looks of pity, or when well-meaning strangers essentially wrestle the wheelchair out of his wife’s hands, trying to help.
“Believe me, I will ask for help myself if I need it—because I would never let my wife struggle with me and exhaust herself,” Viktor says. “What truly warms my heart is when people, meeting my eyes, simply place a hand over their heart. That doesn’t feel demeaning—it gives me strength.”
Unconquered on the World Stage
Viktor Dykyi has won medals at Ukraine’s national Invictus Games. In 2025, he represented Ukraine at the first-ever Winter Hybrid Invictus Games, held in Whistler and Vancouver, Canada. He took the silver medal in skiing and the bronze in sitting volleyball—a Paralympic discipline in which players remain seated on the court floor.
In the arena, as thousands of spectators applauded and Prince Harry of the United Kingdom spoke about the power of the human spirit, Viktor smiled—because step by step, he was reaching the goals he had set for himself. His family was right there with him. The whole world was watching a man who had not merely survived, but had won the war within himself.
Viktor Dykyi continues to train with the coach who prepared him for the Invictus Games. He is preparing to complete a 90-kilometer cross-country ski marathon in Sweden in March 2026.
“If we are alive, we are obligated to live life to the fullest. Friends, brothers-in-arms—don’t sit on your phones feeling sorry for yourselves, don’t give up. Go where you can connect with others like you, where you can take up any kind of sport,” urges the hero of this story.
Original article by Iryna Voronkina. Translated and adapted for international audiences.
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Nove Zhyttia (meaning “New Life”) is the main newspaper of the Blyzniuky community and has served as the primary source of news for residents of the southern part of Ukraineʼs Kharkiv region for over 90 years. Having undergone a successful reform process, the paper has transformed into a modern independent platform that combines a traditional print edition with an active presence on social media and its own web portal.
During the full-scale war, the editorial team has become a vital communication link between local authorities and the community, providing timely reporting on the security situation, humanitarian aid, and the lives of local residents serving as defenders. The outlet actively uses digital tools to cover stories of local resistance and recovery. As a participant in initiatives to strengthen regional media resilience, supported by the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine and its international partners, Nove Zhyttia is preparing to introduce innovations in 2026. The newspaper remains a living chronicle of its region, proving that even in small communities, journalism can be technologically advanced and impactful.
Official website: newlife.kh.ua.
Nove Zhyttia is one of 25 local and regional media outlets participating in the Frontline Press support program, funded by the Swedish media business association Tidningsutgivarna. The program supports professional journalism about life in Ukraine’s frontline communities. The National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU) is happy to share these stories with international media for republication. To request permission to republish this or other materials produced through the Frontline Press program, please contact [email protected].
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