Hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers have gone through rehabilitation in Lithuania. Now, the country is also helping replace lost limbs with prosthetics.
Aliaksandr has been serving in the Ukrainian Army since 2018. He was wounded in early 2024 and had undergone several surgical operations. Eventually, he and two other soldiers received rehabilitation treatment at the Eglė Sanatorium in Druskininkai, and all three were fitted with modern prosthetic limbs.
Aliaksandr has no doubt that he will return to the frontline.
“It will soon be a year since I recovered from my injury. I will go back to serve. I don't know what I'll do. Maybe I'll work as a driver or operate drones,” Aliaksandr told LRT TV.
The soldiers arrived in Druskininkai after treatment in their home country, where they were fitted with temporary prosthetic limbs. The soldiers have now been given permanent modern prostheses made in Lithuania, which are suitable for running and doing sports.
“Each soldier's feet were customised according to their height, weight, and activity level. The technology itself, the production of the prosthesis, is also a novelty in Lithuania,” said orthopaedic technologist Rokas Ulozas.
“Instructors from the United States were invited to train our staff. Orthopaedic technologists were involved in fitting the prostheses, and we believe that this was done successfully,” added Kęstutis Skauminas, Medical Director of the Eglė sanatorium in Druskininkai.
The Ukrainian soldiers say that there are challenges – they had to relearn how to walk and they had to work a lot with physiotherapy and other specialists.
All of them lost limbs in the war.
“We were moving from one position to another and stepped on a mine, that's the result. Now I feel good, there is progress, and my health is improving every day. First I want to finish my rehabilitation, come back, and then I will think about what I will do,” said Mykola, a soldier from Kherson.
“I need to learn to run faster and it will be great. The hardest thing is to start walking again”, said Vyacheslav, a soldier from the Kyiv region.
They are now receiving a comprehensive package of medical rehabilitation services.
“The main medical problem is muscle imbalance. The focus of the rehabilitation programme is physiotherapy, both in halls and in the water, and general physical health and emotional state are also part of the rehabilitation,” Skauminas said.
Over 100 Ukrainian troops have already received rehabilitation in Lithuania. The programme is set to continue into 2025.
“The people who came for rehabilitation were returnees from Russian captivity and had multiple physical injuries. The nicest thing is when the soldiers leave, they say, ‘I will also defend your country’. It is the greatest reward to hear that,” said Danas Rėksnys, head of the Back to Life NGO.
However, the exact number of Ukrainian troops who have undergone rehabilitation in Lithuania is unclear, as the service is being handled by various non-governmental organisations, as well as the defence and health ministries.
Now, a Lithuanian-led and state-funded 15-million-euro rehabilitation programme is being launched in Ukraine. Vilnius will help build and run three separate facilities.
“Both our specialists will go on-site for training, and possibly the training will be done remotely, and some of the Ukrainian specialists will come to Lithuania for internships,” said Ramunė Andriušaitienė, an adviser to the Health Ministry.
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