quote:

quote:
Pavlo’s story

“I don’t get it. People are out and about, like the war is somewhere far away. But this is a full-scale invasion, and it’s like people still don’t care,” Pavlo says.

He is frustrated by what he sees as indifference.

“We need everyone to come together like they did on the first day. Everyone was united then, like brothers.”
Instead, the security service in Cherkasy is constantly shutting down local social media channels that warn people when the conscription teams are in town and alert them to areas to avoid.

At 24, Pavlo has sacrificed a lot for his country.
He grew up dreaming of being a soldier - his eyes light up when he remembers that - and he was serving in the army in February 2022 when Russian troops rolled across the border.

He fought near Kyiv, then Soledar in the eastern Donbas, where the battle was brutal. That first summer, he was moved to Bakhmut.

“We came under heavy fire. A shell landed next to me. I lost my whole elbow. There was nothing left,” he says, describing an attack in which he was badly injured.

He managed to crawl beneath a bush and he began to pray.

The soldier admits that getting to hospital was a huge relief: not just because he’d survived, but because he was finally off the front line. “It was hard there. I can’t even put it into words.”

He looks down and falls quiet.

Pavlo’s injuries were severe. His right arm was amputated below the shoulder, he still feels pain where his limb is missing, and he has shrapnel in his leg. His basic prosthetic gives him limited movement.

But he wanted to go on serving, so he became a conscription officer.