A small rehabilitation center on the outskirts of Kyiv has a big mission: to help the defenders of Mariupol recover from their injuries. A soldier with the call sign “Buffalo” is learning to walk on a prosthetic leg – he lost his leg in Mariupol. Another soldier is practicing his movement coordination on a simulator. A third fighter is standing on a round disk that swings in different directions under the supervision of a doctor, so he is relearning how to keep his balance and maneuver.

Despite the fact that the center is private, rehabilitation for Azov soldiers is free of charge. This was taken care of by the Azov patronage service.

Read our story about the defenders who were evacuated from hell.

“Barsik”

Barsik is a Russian. He joined Azov back in 2014, when the war started. Since 2017, he has been engaged in public activities, and on the morning of February 24, he returned to the front. Together with the Azov terrorist defense, he took part in the first battles for Bucha and Moshchun against Russian aviation and artillery, which were significantly outnumbered. When his company was withdrawn from the Kyiv region, Barsyk agreed to fly to occupied Mariupol. At the end of March, the first 33 volunteers were landed at Azovstal. Barsyk’s group was assigned to hold the yard of three nine-story buildings on the right bank of the city. The military held this position until March 30, when Barsyk and his comrades were wounded. The soldier’s leg was injured, and the next day he was evacuated by helicopter. He is currently undergoing rehabilitation and plans to return to service.

“Buffalo”

Buivol signed a contract with the National Guard in 2020, as soon as he turned 18. He first went to the front on February 24. Their positions were located at the Ilyich plant in Mariupol, where sabotage and reconnaissance groups were constantly entering. Later, the Buffalo took part in urban battles. During one of them, on March 23, he was wounded. The soldier was evacuated to Azovstal. As he says, he was “lucky” – at the time, doctors still had anesthesia, so they amputated his leg with anesthesia. Later, amputations were performed without anesthesia. On the night of April 3 to 4, Buffalo was evacuated from Azovstal. Now he is undergoing rehabilitation and learning to get back on his feet. He has a prosthesis instead of one.

“Shkolnik”

“Shkolnik” joined Azov at the age of 18, and within a year he was already performing combat missions. When Russia launched a full-scale invasion, he and his comrades were at a base near Mariupol. The soldiers immediately began preparing the city for defense. At first, the Russians burned everything to the ground with aircraft and artillery, and then the infantry came in. On March 11, during a shooting on the seashore, Shkolnik received a bullet wound to his pelvis and was waiting to be evacuated to Azovstal with his other comrades. He was evacuated from there by helicopter on March 31.

 

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