For them, lying in a hospital bed was unbearable compared to standing alongside their brothers-in-arms to defend Ukraine. But they all agree on one thing—when the war ends, they won't spend another day in uniform; joining the army was never their first choice.

Rubliuk rejoined the special forces last spring as a senior sergeant in the Artan intelligence unit, training new soldiers and monitoring enemy drones. His rehabilitation began in late 2022, but he believes it never truly ends. "Every new day is part of my rehabilitation," he says. His new body, he adds, is a balance between self-acceptance and continuous recovery.

A comrade who was with Rubliuk when the explosion happened and suffered minor injuries, remembers the moment vividly. "I thought he was dead," said the soldier who did not give his name in compliance with special forces rules.

At that moment, Rubliuk's life hung in the balance. He was transported to a nearby hospital, suffered cardiac arrest and eventually was resuscitated, said Dr. Anton Yakovenko, a military surgeon who treated him.

After months in hospital wards and rehabilitation centers in Philadelphia and Florida, Rubliuk has returned to take on a role near the front line where, like others who have done so, his knowledge and experience are the greatest weapon.

Being back in uniform is like 'returning home'

Maksym Vysotskyi had just completed a drone mission in November 2023 when he took a detour after heavy rains turned the battlefield into a swamp and stepped on a land mine. The explosion was instantaneous. When he looked down at his left leg, all he saw was bone.

"I quickly accepted the fact that my leg was gone. What's the point of mourning? Crying and worrying won't bring it back," the 42-year-old says. By May, he was back in uniform, describing the feeling as "returning home."

"You need to come out of this not as someone broken by the war and written off, but as someone they tried to break, but couldn't," he says. "You came back, proved you could still do something, and you'll step away only when you decide to."

Vysotskyi now commands a team operating explosives-laden drones on nighttime missions. He assesses risk and makes strategic decisions but rarely goes on combat missions. Despite his injury, he has never regretted enlisting.

"Everyone must walk their own path, and there will be challenges along the way. You can try to escape your fate, but it will always catch up with you," he says. "That's why I never had regrets."

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