Yuryi Semenenko’s, a 53-year-old resident of Tsyrkuny, legs were injured as a result of russian shelling in August 2022. Currently, the man walks on crutches and continues rehabilitation. After the deoccupation of Tsyrkuny in May, the russian occupiers intensified their shelling of the village, says Yuryi. The man was injured on 14 August: “It happened at home, I was walking from the vegetable garden, there was a hit, it was not be heard. A projectile exploded 30 meters away, and both my legs were wounded. This is practically my fourth birthday. That is, it turns out that I could have died four times; shells were flying around here.” “There was enough shelling everywhere here. The force of the impact was such that it tore the frame of the car off. I have no idea how the dog survived this. The kennel was over there… Miracles happen. The wall of the house somehow survived, probably because I built it myself,” — Yuryi says. In addition to the dog, eight goats survived the shelling; each one has a name. “Wounded, I crawled… Usually I look at the goats from above. But I had to look at them from the bottom up. I crawled out onto the road, and the military gave me first aid,” — the resident of Tsyrkuny says. After rehabilitation, Yuryi wants to repair the house: before the full-scale invasion, he worked as a construction worker. Wealth is not what is necessary, the main thing is to be healthy. “I want to get back on my feet faster, and I don’t need anything else. I don’t need riches, the main thing is health. I need to get back on my feet in order to restore things. I want to walk, run,” — Yuryi says. Yuryi’s wife Nataliia Hroian worked as a kindergarten teacher before the full-scale invasion. Despite the explosions Tsirkuny residents heard, Nataliia got herself together in the morning of February 24, and went to work. In the first days of the full-scale invasion, the couple tried to transmit data about the location of the russian occupiers: “After the communication had been cut off, it became scary.” In April, the woman left through Russia and returned to the village after it was retaken by Ukraine: “We were going through St. Petersburg to Finland.” He says that at the end of December he is always in a festive mood, because there used to be festive mornings at work on those days, so this year the couple decorated the Christmas tree growing in the yard. The toys were taken from the attic; the roof was also damaged by shelling. Nataliia’s daughter and granddaughter are currently abroad. Most of all, Nataliia wants to wait for the end of the war and to see her daughter and granddaughter after the Victory. “Oh, I just want peace. I want for this war to end, for all my relatives to return home,” — Nataliia says. Doctors do not make prognoses about Yuryi’s health. Perhaps, the man says, he will have to move around on crutches in the future: “Thank God, at least this happened. I know that people have to go through worse things. I think, sooner or later, everything will be fine.”
Source: Ukrainian Public TV
