Ukrainian veterans finding a new life on stage

Just a last touch of makeup, then it’s time for the costume. Last chance to rehearse the lines! A scene from the artists’ dressing room in a theater in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv. On the program tonight is a special performance with a uniqie ensemble: Ukrainian veterans wounded in the war with Russia.

The soldiers worked on the production for about a year. The ensemble also includes Andrii Onopriienko, who lost both eyes in 2023, when two Russian anti-tank grenades hit his position in the eastern Ukrainian city of Avdiivka. Joining the veteran theater was particularly challenging for him. The 31-year-old can only memorize texts by listening to them.

Like the other veterans in the 15-member acting group, Andrii Onopriienko finds fulfillment on stage. “Yes, we might not have an arm, or legs, or eyes, but we aren’t giving up,” he told the Reuters news agency.

Russia’s war of aggression, now entering its fifth year, has wounded countless Ukrainian soldiers. Tens of thousands have lost limbs, even more have suffered unspeakable trauma. Many saw their lives change radically after their injuries. They struggle to reintegrate into society, while society itself struggles to integrate a generation of traumatized men and women.

The war veteran Inna Korolenko, 26, hugs Andrii Onopriienko during the play. Theater is a way to process horrific experiences. Together, the ensemble has staged an avant-garde version of “Aeneid” — a parody of the Roman poet Vergil’s work. “It is rehabilitation and socialization,” said Onopriienko. “It’s positive emotions.”

Ukrainian veteran Yehor Babenko holds up an old picture of himself, from before his injury. Now 27, he was seriously injured during the first year of fighting when Russian forces struck his base near Mykolaiv. His face suffered severe burns, his hands are maimed. He can only speak through a tube in his throat.

Babenko’s injuries did not stop him from signing up for months of tiring rehearsals that included dancing, tumbling and twirling. He’s now also started working as a veterans’ psychologist. He said the trauma of serious injuries often pushes people to seek new meaning: “I know a lot of cases where people opened up or tried things they never dared to try,” he explained.

Olha Semoshkina, chief choreographer of the veteran’s theater group, talks to the group of lay actors before the premiere. Each of their roles includes a lot of physical exertion. Semoshkina said she cast each actor’s role based on the injuries the veterans carry with them.

Most of the actors agree: Performing with physical disabilities is hard, but not the only challenge they face. After years of life in the military, with its strict rules and discipline, Yehor Babenko said it was hard to readjust to a creative environment that invited free thinking.

At the premier in December, the audience responded with thunderous applause. Some viewers cried, others embraced. Yehor Babenko said it was important for his comrades to see that life goes on, even after a serious injury: “Sometimes, you understand that it’s the opposite, that it just starts getting going.”