A Special Project on the Work of the Protez Foundation Prosthetics Service Center
“Our motto is: faith in God and unity among people can move mountains. War is a terrible ordeal, and our unity will determine whether we emerge from it stronger, more resilient, and more united,” says Petro Hradynar, the director and chief prosthetist of the Protez Foundation Service Center. He has just finished taking a cast for a prosthetic limb for a veteran, kindly explaining and demonstrating the entire process to us. Now, with the afternoon calm surrounding us, we have a moment for a conversation without interrupting his work.
Petro Hradynar is a trauma surgeon with many years of medical experience. He has run the center since its establishment in the spring of last year.
Petro Hradynar
The prosthetics center operates as a branch of the Protez Charitable Foundation founded at the onset of Russia’s full-scale invasion by two Ukrainian expatriates, Yuriy Aroshidze and Yakiv Hradynar, in Minneapolis, USA.
Today, this center is the only facility in Zakarpattia region where war veterans and Ukrainian civilians who have lost limbs due to the war can receive free prosthetic care, rehabilitation, and ongoing maintenance for their prosthetic limbs. According to the Zakarpattia Regional Military Administration, healthcare institutions in the region do not provide limb prosthetics, offering only rehabilitation services in both inpatient and outpatient settings.
At the same time, large-scale construction of the “4.5.0. Recovery Center” rehabilitation facility is currently underway in Zakarpattia. Therefore, the successful practical experience of the Protez Foundation did not go unnoticed: in the spring, the regional authorities signed a memorandum of cooperation with the foundation’s founders.
From American Minneapolis to Svaliava, Zakarpattia Region
A service center in Svaliava was established to ensure that Ukrainians fitted with prosthetics in America by the Protez Foundation could receive necessary maintenance and servicing for their prosthetic limbs upon returning home.
“In the first year of the full-scale war, seven groups of Ukrainian servicemen underwent prosthetic treatment in America. The foundation covers all expenses—from visa assistance to accommodation and initial rehabilitation on site. One of the founders of the Protez Foundation, Yakiv Hradynar, is my brother. He has been living in the U.S. for a long time and works as a doctor. It was his idea to open a Protez Foundation branch in Ukraine because prosthetic limbs require maintenance: calibration, adjustments, or even replacement of certain parts if needed,” says Petro Hradynar.
Specialists from the newly established Svaliava Service Center were trained in the U.S., following the Protez Foundation’s protocols. In early 2023, they found a suitable facility, renovated it within a few days, and ordered the necessary equipment. By early March of the same year, the center started accepting patients for prosthetic maintenance and manufacturing replacement parts.
“Here we have vacuum installations and a dry-heat sterilizer—an oven for heating up plastic. This is the so-called ‘clean zone,’ where all assembly and adjustment of prosthetics take place. Beyond this begins the ‘work zone,’ where grinding machines and tools for casting are located: when we take a cast from a patient’s residual limb, we pour plaster into it and obtain a ‘positive’ model for further work on the prosthetic itself,’ Petro Hradynar explains as he prepares to work with a group of military personnel—both active soldiers on rotation and veterans who have just arrived at the center for a few days.
How Protez Foundation Operates in Zakarpattia
Those seeking prosthetic treatment from the Protez Foundation must fill out an application on the organization’s website, where they are placed on a waiting list that currently has 1,800 applications.
Previously, all prosthetic fittings were done exclusively in the USA, but now patients can also receive prosthetic care in the Svaliava Service Center and the newly opened Protez Foundation branch in Kyiv. The location of the procedure depends on the complexity of each individual case.
For instance, specialists at the Zakarpattia center perform foot orthotics and prosthetics for lower limb amputations. Meanwhile, the Kyiv branch handles upper limb prosthetics. In more complex cases—such as high-level amputations, bilateral limb loss, thigh prosthetics, or hip disarticulation—patients are sent to the U.S. for treatment.
The Svaliava Service Center can accommodate up to 10 patients at a time, welcoming individuals from all over Ukraine. Those selected for the program are provided free accommodation in a local hotel, including for accompanying family members if necessary. However, the program has strict rules: no drugs, alcohol, or revelry.
The team at the Zakarpattia branch of Protez Foundation includes Director and Chief Prosthetist Petro Hradynar, Prosthetist Yuriy Polyak, Rehabilitation Specialist Oleksandr Tatsey, Technician Veniamin Hradynar, and Communications Officer for Prosthetic Veterans Mykola Voronchuk. Voronchuk himself is a former serviceman who lost his arm in the war and underwent prosthetic treatment at Protez Foundation. As a result, he is uniquely equipped to connect with fellow veterans, understand their emotions, listen to their experiences, and build bridges of mutual understanding.
Петро Градинар та Олександр Тацей
For rehabilitation sessions held by Oleksandr Tatsey, the center has a specially equipped room featuring Swedish walls, a treadmill, an exercise bike, exercise balls, and med balls. Here, soldiers engage in workouts, learn to box, navigate obstacles using their prosthetics, and strengthen their muscles with dumbbells. In addition to health-focused and general strengthening exercises conducted at the center, the rehabilitation program also includes excursion trips around Transcarpathia and hikes in the mountains.
300 Ukrainians Have Already Received Prosthetics from Protez Foundation
Since its establishment in 2022, Protez Foundation specialists have provided prosthetics to nearly 300 Ukrainians with amputations. The priority is military personnel, but the foundation also assists civilians affected by the war and children.
There is currently no publicly available official statistic on the total number of people in Ukraine who need prosthetics due to the full-scale war. However, as of August last year, The Wall Street Journal, citing an estimate from the German company Ottobock—one of the world’s largest prosthetic manufacturers—reported that around 50,000 Ukrainians require prosthetic limbs.
Given that hostilities continue unabated and Russia persistently bombards Ukrainian cities with missiles and mines occupied territories, the number of wounded Ukrainians in need of prosthetics is steadily growing. Furthermore, the demand for artificial limbs will remain even after the war ends, as people will continue to encounter explosive devices in forests and fields for years to come.
This year, the Ukrainian government has allocated over 4.5 billion UAH for free prosthetic care. Additionally, military personnel can receive high-functionality prosthetic devices, including bionic prosthetics, which can cost up to 2 million UAH each.
Between January and May 2024, 5,248 individuals received prosthetics for upper and lower limbs, with total funding amounting to 1.04 billion UAH.
A Mountain Hike One Month After Prosthetic Fitting: The Story of National Guardsman Mykhailo Matviyiv
During our visit to the service center, five soldiers were there for prosthetic maintenance. One of them was Mykhailo Matviiyv from Lviv region, a former fighter of the National Guard’s special forces unit Omega, who had come to replace his previous prosthetic limb.
In 2022, while clearing Russian positions on the front line, Mykhailo stepped on a mine and lost his leg. After several surgeries and six months in hospitals, he filled out an application, received confirmation, and was among the first groups of soldiers sent to the U.S. for prosthetic care. Since the opening of the service center in Svaliava, he has been receiving care there and now feels at home. He even helps the lead prosthetist during the casting process for new prosthetics.
“We’re making a temporary plastic prosthetic from scratch, and I hope Mykhailo will be able to stand on it by the end of the day,” says Petro Hradynar with a smile as he works. “Then we’ll test it for a while—checking for any pressure points or discomfort. If everything is fine, we’ll proceed with making a permanent one.”
When Mykhailo first received his prosthetic a year and a half ago, he immediately stood up and walked. Within days, he was running and jumping, eager to regain all the movements and activities he was used to before his injury. Just a month after returning to Ukraine, he joined his brother-in-arms on a mountain hike.
Mykhailo Matviyiv
Looking back, Mykhailo admits that the decision was premature and not the best idea:
“I had to stop constantly to drain blood from the liner (a special sleeve covering the residual limb that improves its connection to the prosthetic socket and protects against injury). I rushed things—my injured leg wasn’t ready for such intense activity in such a short time. Ideally, during the recovery period before getting a prosthetic, you should work on strengthening your muscles and doing physical exercises. It also helps psychologically—getting out of four walls, going to the gym, being around people, and trying to do something.”
Honor and Courage — Through Pain and Bureaucracy: The Story of Foreign Legion Fighter Eric Jorgenson
While Mykhailo shares his story, in the next room, rehabilitation specialist Oleksandr Tatsey is training a tall young man wearing glasses, who has a high leg amputation. At one point, we catch some English words—he is speaking in a foreign language. This is Eric Jorgenson, a 22-year-old American who fought for Ukraine and was severely wounded in the Kharkiv region.
In 2022, Eric had just been discharged from the U.S. Marine Corps. In March, he heard an address from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy calling on foreigners to join the fight against the Russian invasion. He decided to stand in defense of Ukraine.
First, he traveled to Poland, then crossed the border on foot and joined the ranks of the Foreign Legion in Ukraine. In the fall of 2022, after signing a contract and undergoing military training, Eric and his unit were deployed to the Kharkiv region, where they took part in the Ukrainian army’s counteroffensive.
“The intensity of combat was extremely high, and for me, it ended very quickly. Barely two weeks after arriving at the front line, during one of our missions, a shell exploded near me. I only remember seeing a massive crater and my mutilated leg, its kneecap missing. It was only later that I realized how incredibly lucky I was to survive—and that two medical comrades had evacuated me just in time,” Eric recalls.
For nearly six months, Eric hoped that his leg could be saved with a knee implant. He received treatment first in Ukraine, then in Poland. However, the constant pain and progressive muscle atrophy—due to his inability to stand even with crutches—led him to undergo amputation in March 2023.
Eric Jorgenson
The funds for Eric’s first prosthetic were raised by a nurse who had cared for him in Poland. Due to complex bureaucratic procedures, Eric not only received no compensation for his injuries but was also denied his military salary. Returning to the U.S. with the dream of running again, he tried to obtain a high-quality functional prosthetic through insurance—without success. Looking back on the day he received confirmation of his participation in the Protez Foundation program, Eric calls it one of the happiest moments in recent times.
Now, he is undergoing rehabilitation at the Protez Foundation Service Center in Svaliava while simultaneously working on obtaining the necessary documents to confirm his disability status from injuries sustained in Ukraine’s defense—and to finally receive the compensation he is entitled to. With disappointment, he acknowledges that this has become his personal struggle, though thankfully, he has the support and guidance of the center’s specialists.
Text: Tetiana Klym-Kashuba, Varosh
Photos: Olesya Danio
This material has been prepared within the framework of the Dutch-Slovak-Ukrainian project ‘Strengthening the Rule of Law at the Local/Regional Level in Ukraine: The Case of Zakarpattia Region’, which is implemented with the support of the Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands under the MATRA program, a leading Dutch initiative for social transformation support.
The project is being implemented by the Institute for Central European Strategy (ICES) in collaboration with the Dutch organization Foundation of Justice, Integrity and Anti-Corruption (FJIAC) and Transparency International Slovensko (TI SK), in partnership with the Zakarpattia Regional State Administration and the Regional Council.
Important: The content of this material does not reflect the official position or opinions of the project’s implementers or donors. The content of the publications is the sole responsibility of Varosh.
