The press in Ukraine | Tap in the ball to forget the sound of the balls

(LVIV) In Ukraine, around 80,000 amputations have been practiced since the Russian offensive of 2022. Similarly, To get up physically and psychologically, some have put on prostheses and soccer jerseys. In addition, From Lviv to Kharkiv, Ukrainian soccer fields are filled despite the daily sirens.

The blue sky and the sweet summer temperatures would almost forget the recent nights of anxiety punctuated by sirens and drone alerts in Lviv, Ukraine. press ukraine | tap ball Additionally, In addition, On the field of the Historical Club Stadium of the Pokrova AMP. For example, the team of amputated players trains, under the diligent gaze of their coach.

At the whistle, they set off on the foot, skillfully zigzagant with a bell between the obstacles. Consequently, They use two crutches, to keep in balance, a very demanding technique for forearms. Nevertheless, The rules of soccer for amputees are simple: all players must have lost one leg. Therefore, except the guards who must have one arm less.

The crutches should not touch the ball, under penalty of disqualification. An attacker, amputated with the right leg, rushes towards press ukraine | tap ball the goalkeeper, before making a magnificent heel. But, in the Lacarne. As an applause, the sound of crutches entered resonates in rhythm. Thanks to the round ball, their faces relax, they give meaning to their lives.

“Do you allow them to rest?” », Sets a curious person behind the fences.

“They are no longer on the forehead, finally!” “Replied by laughing the coach, Nazar Rusetskiv.

This Thursday in mid-July, an exceptional training brings together several teams in the country. They are from Lviv, Kyiv, Kharkiv or Zaporijia, but all are around their passion for soccer. Most of them are former soldiers, who have lost a member in combat. “Some 80 % of them were injured in the front. It feels good, I see him in their eyes. The soccer makes them forget the time of press ukraine | tap ball a moment war and the handicap, ”specifies the coach.

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“I shouted like an animal”

Former soldier, Valentyn Guryn has just celebrated his 47th birthday. This father of two was injured in Zaporijia on October 10, 2024. During a patrol, an embusing shooter touches him with the left leg, leaving a gaping wound of 10 centimeters.

“It was so bad. I shouted like an animal, I asked one of my comrades that he shoots me in the middle of the forehead. It made me suffer too much. “said the defender of the Pokrova AMP, adjusting his latest prosthesis CRI 3R80 – a model at $ 23,000 per unit.

After his amputation, he was repatriated to Lviv, his region of origin. He hears about a team being created, his curiosity is stung, but a doubt remains: “My age … You laugh, I am no longer very young,” he jokes.

Former sportsman, he tries the blow, and realizes that he moves very quickly on his crutches. Short hair, brown eyes and lively look, he wants to show a photo of him valid, on his two skittles. In military trellis, a shoulder weapon, he is press ukraine | tap ball seen as a smile in the company of his brothers in arms. A memory of his old life.

Oleksandr Hovorukha, also a player with the Pokrova AMP, skillfully turns on itself with a feet. After he was injured in Vovtchansk. near Kharkiv, the doctors manage to save his right leg miraculously, but must press ukraine | tap ball amputate the left. There followed months of rehabilitation at the Superhumans center in Lviv, specializing in the installation of prostheses. According to the Institute. in May 2025, at least 80,000 people would have lost a member in the Ukrainian conflict: it is as much as during the First World War. “Playing makes me feel good, I realize,” said Oleksandr, wiping his sweaty front.

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“The unbreakable”

In the distance, a tactician is distinguished by his quality of dribble and juggle. Sasha Tebenkov has a particularity, it is amputated with both legs. Unable to integrate a team because you have to have a valid leg. he took the coach cap of the Noselamni Kharkiv team, literally “the unbreakable”.

At 27, this lover of the round ball since he was a child is also a fervent Ukrainian patriot. Beard necklace and weapons tattoos and symbols in the colors of Ukraine, he joined the army in 2019. Since then, he has been from all fronts, before being hit press ukraine | tap ball hard during a recognition patrol, in the Zaporijjia region.

“Our armored vehicle rolled on a mine. Four of us survived, my driver died instantly. My legs were crushed, cut, I passed out, then woke up in the hospital, legs cut, ”he confesses, grimacing. The first months are extremely hard, punctuated by ghost pain.

Amputated legs below the knees, he recently had new prostheses, in carbon this time, more efficient. Inasmuch as coachhe transmits his passion for the round ball to his players. “I won battles, now it will be matches,” he whispered after a wink.

A first championship

Beyond training. the 19 teams of amputated players in the country compete in tournament as part of the League of Mighty – The Braves League -, competition organized on the initiative of the Ukrainian Football Federation (FUF). The League works in close collaboration with the Superhumans Center. in which coach Nazar Rusetskiv, of the Pokrova AMP, goes regularly to recruit future players.

In the fall of 2025, the first Ukrainian championship of amputated footballers will take place, the opportunity for the 19 teams in the country to officially compete. Today, the sky darkens above the stadium. Not enough to frighten the players. who continue to run a bullet press ukraine | tap ball at the foot, to forget, for a few moments, their handicap and their trauma.