STORY: On a winter afternoon in Zaporizhzhia, the sharp clack of crutches mixes with shouts of encouragement as a group of amputee veterans chased a soccer ball across the pitch.

They lost limbs on the front line; now they meet three times a week to train with a team formed in 2025, finding camaraderie and purpose.

Among them is 31-year-old Maksym Yaroshenko, who joined the Ukrainian army in March 2022 and lost his leg the following year during a counteroffensive near Robotyne, where he had been serving as a demining specialist.

“Just like in the war, all are brother-in-arms here, we all support each other,” he told Reuters on Wednesday (January 28). Between training sessions, Yaroshenko works as an engineer at the Zaporizhstal steel plant, returning to the job he held before the invasion.

When asked about his dream, he answered simply, “so that the war ends. And the children grow up without these explosions, with normal electricity 24/7.”

The veterans echo one another when asked what they hope for: An end to the war.

Team coordinator Anton Usachuk, 32, watches the veterans trade jokes and shake hands after practice. Thirteen of the 15 players are veterans and, he said, the transformation he sees keeps him motivated.

“When they laugh and joke – and they don’t feel any restrains, and feel complete – this really motivates us to do such things,” he said.

The war in Ukraine is nearly reaching its fourth year and recent U.S.-led talks in Abu Dhabi have injected some new momentum into efforts to clinching a peace deal, but profound differences persist between the Russian and Ukrainian negotiating stances.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

SHOWS: ZAPORIZHZHIA, UKRAINE (JANUARY 28, 2026) (REUTERS – Access all)

1. VARIOUS OF AMPUTEES PLAYING SOCCER

2. (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) 31-YEAR-OLD AMPUTEE VETERAN, MAKSYM YAROSHENKO, SAYING:

“Almost all the team members are veterans – brothers-in-arms, roughly speaking. We have very good relations among ourselves. And just like in the war, all are brother-in-arms here, we all support each other.”

3. VARIOUS OF AMPUTEES PLAYING SOCCER

4. (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) 31-YEAR-OLD AMPUTEE VETERAN, MAKSYM YAROSHENKO, SAYING:

“(I do it) For health, to socialize with brother-in-arms, for recovery. You don't have to shut yourself in, sit at home thinking ‘you’ve got an amputation and you’re not like everybody else’. There's nothing wrong with that! You come, you play, everything is fine. You have to continue living as it is!”

REPORTER ASKING ‘What is your dream?’

“So that the war ends. And the children grow up without these explosions, with normal electricity 24/7.”

5. VARIOUS OF AMPUTEES PLAYING SOCCER

6. IVAN VERSHYNA, 38, PLAYING AMPUTEE SOCCER

7. AMPUTEES PLAYING SOCCER

8. (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) 38-YEAR-OLD AMPUTEE VETERAN, IVAN VERSHYNA, SAYING:

“What do I feel? For me, I get to know more brothers-in-arms, I get to know such professional amp soccer - to learn all its basics, and to strive further with our team to rise higher in the league, in the championship.”

REPORTER ASKING ‘What is your dream?’

“My dream? So that there is no war.”

9. AMPUTEES PLAYING SOCCER

10. (MUTE) AMPUTEE HITTING BALL (FILMED IN SLOWMOTION)

11. VARIOUS OF AMPUTEES PLAYING SOCCER

12. VERSHYNA AND ARTUR BEBESHOV, 56, AMPUTEE VETERAN

13. AMPUTEES PLAYING SOCCER

14. (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) 56-YEAR-OLD AMPUTEE VETERAN, ARTUR BEBESHOV, SAYING:

“In the future (I want) - to continue playing soccer, to do sports and to win. The most important thing is that our country wins this war and that peace comes.

REPORTER ASKING ‘This is your dream?’

“Yes, this is my dream.”

15. VARIOUS OF AMPUTEES PLAYING SOCCER

16. (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) 32-YEAR-OLD TEAM COORDINATOR, ANTON USACHUK, SAYING:

“When they laugh and joke - and they don’t feel any restrains, and feel complete, this really motivates us to do such things (organize amputee soccer teams).”

17. VARIOUS OF AMPUTEES PLAYING SOCCER

18. (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) 32-YEAR-OLD TEAM COORDINATOR, ANTON USACHUK, SAYING:

“My personal dream is for this war to finally end. And in the context of our work - for such guys to feel happy, needed, and not to feel any gap between people who are just regular athletes; for them to feel like real athletes.

19. VARIOUS OF AMPUTEE VETERANS SHAKING HANDS