Anatolii recovers from injuries with HI
Anatolii was an athlete who competed internationally for Ukraine. After a drone strike in Kherson, walking is a daily ordeal.
Anatolii and his wife, Olha, in their displaced home. In January 2025, an FPV drone strike in Antonivka, Kherson, left Anatolii with life-altering leg injuries and Olha with a severe concussion. Forced to flee the destruction of their village, the couple now live in Mykolaiv, where they continue their long journey of rehabilitation and recovery. Mykolaiv,?February?2026. | © L. Hutsul / HI
On the evening of Jan. 12, 2025, Anatolii stepped outside his home in Antonivka to close his yard gate. A drone appeared without warning and immediately dropped its munition.
Severely injured and no ambulance
Anatolii suffered severe wounds. His wife Olha, who was standing nearby, sustained a concussion and profound psychological trauma.
No ambulance came — local security situation had put an end to that service. Only the police arrived.
Two days later, surgeons in Mykolaiv told him that he had two options: amputation, or a complex recovery with permanent consequences.
No amputation
Anatolii chose to keep his leg. One leg is now shorter than the other, which has caused spinal curvature and makes walking a daily struggle and working harder still.
"As an athlete, I've always known how to train through pain. Now, every step is a different kind of competition — a daily battle to move, to work, and to reclaim the man I was before the strike."
Olha was once again injured in a drone attack on a bus she was travelling in, sustaining a concussion and a traumatic brain injury.
The couple's losses are staggering.
All four of the family’s properties — their home, their daughter's house, their parents' house, and their summer cottage — have all been destroyed. Their vehicles have also been destroyed, with, one drone-struck right outside their own gate.
The family of five fled with little more than their documents and some savings.
Start from zero
The couple have relocated to Mykolaiv, where they now live on the ninth floor of a building with unreliable elevators — a particular hardship given Anatolii's condition. Physical rehabilitation through humanitarian organization HI has begun, though they wish they had accessed it sooner.
"Our greatest wish is to return home, to rebuild our lives in the place where we lived with love and leave everything behind for our children. We dream of peace", says Anatolii
Anatolii's disability pension is insufficient to cover the family's housing and living costs. They are, in their own words, starting from zero.
Title of the project- Strengthening the capacities and resilience of mine action actors and conflict-affected populations towards explosive ordnance contamination in the East, Northeast, and South of Ukraine – Phase 2?(2026) This project builds on the previous SDC-funded project from 2024-2025, aiming to reduce the impact of explosive ordnance/explosive weapons (EO/EW) while increasing the resilience of at-risk communities.
