How Ukraine’s Superhuman Centre is helping war heroes walk again

Oleksandr (he declined to give his full name for safety reasons and restriction by the military), an aviation engineer, was a member of the 250-member Ukrainian contingent of the United Nations Organisation Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO). In March 2022, as the Russo-Ukrainian War escalated following Russia’s full invasion of Ukraine, Oleksandr, alongside other members of the Ukrainian contingent in Goma, was redeployed back home to fight the invading army.

However, less than a month after his return home, tragedy struck. Oleksandr lost his right leg in a missile attack (he declined to reveal the location of the attack for security reasons).

When asked how he felt living without a limb, Oleksandr said, “It is difficult,” with an almost invisible smirk as he sat in a wheelchair tended by his wife, Anna.

Oleksandr is one of the 3,000 war victims who have been treated at the Superhuman Centre in Lviv, Ukraine’s sixth-largest city.

“I thought it would be easy, that I would just be given a prosthetic limb and start working. But going through the training of how to use an artificial limb has brought about good results,” he said.

Moments earlier, Petro Buryak, 41, a driver and double amputee, narrated how he lost his brother and both of his limbs delivering supplies to soldiers on the frontline.

Petro Buryak (PHOTO CREDIT: Nicholas)

After the full invasion, Mr Buryak, a father of three, abandoned his career as a long-distance logistics driver in Spain and enlisted in the military. He was immediately transferred to the 24th Brigade. On 6 September 2022, a car he was driving ran over a land mine, and he and the three other occupants, including his brother, in the vehicle sustained severe injuries. Of the four occupants in the car, Mr Buryak suffered the most severe injuries as his body took the direct impact from the exploding mine.

Mr Buryak lost both of his legs and some fingers. Doctors initially thought the Lviv native wouldn’t survive his injuries. But Mr Buryak pulled through. He was subsequently transferred to the Superhuman Centre, where he received a pair of bionic legs. After weeks of training and physiotherapy, he can now do what he loves to do best—driving.

Even as Mr Buryak carries with him the physical and psychological effects of the war (his brother, who was with him during the mine incident, returned to the frontline and was killed during an attack), he said he was thankful for being alive and can now continue helping the war effort albeit in a non-combat role.

“Only eight people from my battalion of 500 people remained in active service. Others have either been killed or injured. There is no longer fear. I am now a different person and perhaps crazier,” he said.

With the help of the trauma treatment he received at the Superhuman Centre, Mr Buryak is not only back on his feet, he has now started a charity organisation, Unbroken Warriors, that supports families of wounded and deceased soldiers by providing them with medical supplies and food.

Restoring mobility

Following the failure of its forces to overrun Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, the Russian military has carried out relentless missile and drone attacks on cities across Ukraine, killing and injuring thousands of civilians.

Thousands of Ukrainian troops on the frontline have either been killed or sustained life-altering injuries. Many of these casualties require urgent and specialised medical care, which the overburdened Ukrainian medical system was unable to provide.

According to the Office of the State of Berlin, Germany, there are an estimated 30,000 to 50,000 amputation injuries in Ukraine in the wake of the war. This alarming and growing number of amputees spurred Ukrainian entrepreneurs and philanthropists Andrey Stavnitser and Philipp Grushko into action. As the co-owners of TIS, Ukraine’s largest port, located near Odesa on the Black Sea, their business was among the first to be impacted by the Russian invasion. More than 5,000 employees were forced to evacuate as the port closed down.

The duo’s original war philanthropic effort was to provide clothing to those affected by war across Ukraine. But the need to pivot into solving a more pressing and existential problem soon became apparent – Ukrainian soldiers were returning from the frontline missing arms and legs, as were civilians injured by missiles and drone attacks.

“Society should celebrate sacrifice and welcome differences; we can do this by giving Ukraine’s heroes world-class prosthetics and treatment free of charge in their home country and in their language. However, the Ukrainian state is nearly broke. Ukrainian hospitals, overwhelmed with complex injuries, are dealing with problematic amputations that only have costly solutions. One soldier without an arm on the right side of his body and only two mangled fingers on his left hand showed me a picture of the heavy wooden arm he was offered in Kyiv. We had to get involved,” Mr Stavnitser wrote in an article published by the Atlantic Council.

Opened in April 2023, with financial support from the Howard G. Buffet Foundation, the Superhuman Centre is now Ukraine’s leading war trauma hospital. The facility includes a state-of-the-art prosthetics and facial reconstruction centre, a swimming pool with a hydrotherapy system and treadmills, and in-house prosthesis production (designed by Ottobock, the global leader in orthopaedic technology), Andriy Ishchyk, the centre’s media manager, told PREMIUM TIMES and other journalists.

“Every day, the centre receives 70 patients in different recovery states. The centre has received 2,500 applications from patients or their relatives through our website. Patients apply by choice. We have conducted 500 reconstruction surgeries, including facial and limb reconstructions, and 550 patients have been treated and discharged. Treatment at the centre is completely free.

“We have manufactured 130 hand prostheses and 630 leg prostheses. Right now, 600 people are waiting in line to receive treatment and prosthetics. They have passed the checks and are waiting for their procedures to commence.

“Since February 2024, we have conducted 125 reconstruction operations and operated on 100 patients. Sixteen of the operations were done with the help of renowned foreign specialists.”

He said these specialists also help the centre produce prostheses and train Ukrainian doctors and prosthetics specialists.

“They performed a series of training sessions for surgeons because their services are in high demand. Many patients need these operations, but there are inadequate capabilities and professionals to conduct them. The aim is to produce as many specialists as possible. There need to be more centres like this, and the centre plans to open more across Ukraine,” he said.

High-Spirited heroes

Oleksandr and wife Anna (PHOTO CREDIT: Nicholas)

The aura around the Superhuman Centre in Lviv was surprisingly convivial for a facility that treats patients with war trauma. The inmates had broad smiles, joked, and laughed heartily. One would be forgiven to think many grew up in the same neighbourhood. However, the bond that binds them is their resolve to defend their nation, which has come under the attack of a military behemoth – Russia.

“We are one family,” said Mr Buryak when asked about the noticeable camaraderie among the centre inmates.

“Here, I see no sadness but joy. I see how our heroes return to their usual lives. There are jokes and humour. I see no sadness. There is joy here. It is hard to explain,” said Mr Ishchyk.

“We have had this atmosphere since the beginning due to our superheroes. Here, I see no invalids. I see superheroes. They were in hell, but now they are back. Sometimes, I forget that these are injured people,” he added.

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While amputation is generally seen as life-altering, the superheroes don’t see themselves as disabled, and if they have any regrets, they are primarily trivial.

When asked if he had any regrets, Oleksandr said it was the acceptance that he may never drive a car with a manual gear anymore. “I hate cars with automatic gear,” he said.