By Olha Hembik | 2025-08-07

WARSAW -- The ball arcs toward the goal. A player on crutches swings and connects, and the stadium roars. For Ukrainian veterans who lost limbs in the war against Russia, amputee soccer offers competition and the chance to feel part of a team again.

The first stage of a project to use soccer to rehabilitate injured Ukrainian veterans took place in Rzeszów, Poland, according to a July 6 Ukrinform report.

Thirty individuals from Lviv, Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Lutsk, Brovary, Cherkasy, Kharkiv, Ternopil and Kyiv participated in the training in Poland, including women and children with amputations.

In the sport, the regular game is adapted for players missing one upper or lower limb. To level the playing field, players use crutches but no prostheses.

The next group of players will train in August, with another group scheduled for the fall. These athletes are preparing to play in the Ukrainian Ampfootball League, which is slated to launch in August.

"The new participants of the future Ukrainian Ampfootball League are an example of invincibility, inspiration and the desire to move forward, no matter what," Ukrainian consul Oleh Kuts said in Lublin. Amputee soccer helps restore "not only the body but also the strength of the spirit."

Restoring mobility

Once a major aid hub for Ukrainian refugees and the first city to receive the "Rescuer City" medal from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Rzeszów is now focusing on helping war amputees regain mobility.

More than 100,000 Ukrainians have undergone amputations since Russia's full-scale invasion of their country, a preliminary estimate that is rising because of infections, bacterial resistance to drugs and a shortage of diagnostic labs, said Irena Steciak, Rzeszów's commissioner for cooperation with Ukraine.

"Many [veterans] face emotional scars from war, and their loved ones grappled with trauma," she told Kontur.

With support from Rzeszów’s administration and the ALL4UA foundation, Ukraine's first amputee soccer team, FC Pokrova Lviv AMP, took shape in Lviv. Now in its second season, the team competes in the Polish Amputee Football League.

First goals

In 2023, Lviv resident Yaroslav Kachmar became a squad commander in the Oleksa Dovbush 68th Separate Jaeger Brigade. While fighting near Izyum, Kharkiv province, his unit received orders to reposition.

"This was the first night out in new positions. On level ground, not in a forest, not in new growth -- I was just walking along the road to a car and stepped on an explosive device," Kachmar told Kontur.

He applied a tourniquet himself, called for evacuation and was on an operating table in Izyum within 30 minutes. Later, doctors in Lviv, after consulting with American and British colleagues, decided amputation was the fastest path to recovery.

During rehabilitation in Lviv province, Kachmar shared a hospital ward with a player from FC Pokrova Lviv AMP. At first, he was in too much pain to consider the sport. But as the pain eased and he learned to use crutches, he decided to watch a match.

The energy on the field convinced him to join. Three months after his amputation, Kachmar was scoring his first goals.

"I've always played football. But my right leg was my dominant leg, whereas my left leg remained," he said.

Being systematic

Ninety percent of amputee soccer players in Ukraine are veterans of the Russian-Ukrainian war, according to Bohdan Melnyk, director of FC Pokrova Lviv AMP and development manager for the Ukrainian Football Association's League of the Strong project.

Amputee soccer teams have six outfield players and a goalkeeper, who play two 15-minute halves.

"Amputee soccer is played by people with one amputated limb -- upper or lower. It could also be a dysfunctional limb or congenital disorder," Melnyk told Kontur.

Players with leg amputations compete as outfielders on crutches, while those missing an arm play as goalkeepers.

The game forbids touching the ball with crutches, which is treated like a handball and can lead to a foul or disqualification.

The best rehabilitation

Soccer on crutches is not new to Ukraine: the first teams formed from veterans of the war in Afghanistan. Today, 10 female amputees compete in the sport.

"I literally dragged every future player out of the rehabilitation center. Each person begins a new life here -- from first steps, like a small child. And once they started playing a little soccer, digging the ball and running on crutches, it got them going. They communicated in a team. Positive changes occurred on an emotional level," Melnyk said.

He sees amputee soccer as one of the best forms of secondary rehabilitation for people with disabilities because it keeps them focused on the game and improves overall health.

Kachmar offered his own example. While in Germany for prosthetic training, he debuted in both the German and Polish championships in the same week, something he called a source of pride.

"It's interaction, travel, visiting new cities, atmosphere. You don't sit at home or lock yourself away. Instead, you actively spend time with your blood brothers," he said.

His family supports his hobby. "When there is a live broadcast, my wife and children sit in front of the TV and root for us."

Amputee soccer helps veterans build new careers as coaches, psychologists or physical therapists, said Steciak. Leaders of the Ukrainian Football League are now working to find and train new players, including women and children.

With guidance from European Championship officials, amputee soccer teams are forming in Ukrainian cities, coaches are in training, and players are learning to believe in themselves again.

"There are simply an incredible number of positive stories," Melnyk said.