The enemy tried to kill him with an anti-tank guided missile
28-year-old Dmytro Ustymenko from Poltava. Before the full-scale invasion, he was an IT worker. He had no military service experience, and volunteered to help support soldiers on the eastern front. But when the great war began, he immediately went to the military registration and enlistment office. However, due to the lack of a military specialty and a large number of applicants, the IT specialist was not accepted into the Armed Forces at the first attempt. After Dmytro saw the torture chambers in Bucha, he decided that his specialty was not important when it came to defending his home, and he managed to get into an aerial reconnaissance unit.
At first, Dmytro performed combat missions in the north of the country and in the Kharkiv region. Later, his unit was transferred to the hottest spot on the frontline - Bakhmut. In the winter, Dmytro and his comrades held their positions on the outskirts of Bakhmut for 12 days under round-the-clock fire. The intensity of the fighting did not allow for a minute of respite. Dmytro was wounded on the day they were supposed to be replaced by guys from another brigade. He had moved only 10 meters away from his position when he saw an anti-tank guided missile flying right at him, remotely controlled by an enemy operator.
"I start running to the right and see the projectile change its trajectory, run to the left and it changes its trajectory again, and in the last maneuver it catches up with me. It's how bad I got them that they used an ATGM on me alone. I think this is a level!" the defender says.
Dmytro learned about the amputation of his left leg when he regained consciousness in a Kramatorsk hospital. Doctors said they had no other choice. Otherwise, his life could not be saved. Then Dnipro, Kyiv and finally Lviv. Dmytro was admitted to the National Rehabilitation Center UNBROKEN with necrosis and the threat of repeated amputation - above the knee. So the defender had to undergo four more surgeries. They were successful.
Dmytro says: when he first lost his leg, he first regretted that he had survived at all. But later, communication with other wounded and specialists changed his heavy thoughts into small, achievable goals. Day by day, Dmytro motivated himself, gained confidence in his own abilities and returned to life.
The unbreakable defender has already received a bionic limb prosthesis thanks to the Prostheses for Invincibles project.
We are grateful to every Ukrainian who helps our defenders overcome war injuries.
Fundraising for bionic prostheses for our defenders continues.
