“War Veterans Walk 120km to Raise Funds for Hospital Where They Recovered”

Two war veterans have crossed a part of Ukraine on foot to collect money for the hospital where they recovered from injuries sustained in the fight with the occupiers, reports the media “Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty” (RFE/RL).

The soldiers made a five-day march towards each other, during which they measured approximately 120 kilometers in total. 38-year-old war veteran Oleksandr Shvetsov started his march on the highway in the city of Zhytomyr and headed towards Kyiv. 45-year-old veteran Serhiy Krapko went against Shvetsov.

Both soldiers were injured while defending Ukraine in the Donbass region, before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year.

When separatists occupied government buildings in Donbass in 2014, Shvetsov was drafted into the service. In the same year, a soldier was hit by fragments of shrapnel, as a result of which the man’s leg was amputated. Krapko, on the other hand, had his leg and arm amputated after being wounded in a mortar attack near Luhansk in July 2015.

Veteran Krapko got the idea after a hospital employee commented on a significant lack of hospital equipment. Shvetsov agreed to the comrade’s plan, the two agreeing to do a five-day march to honor their wounded comrades.

“This is how we can help our brothers and sisters in arms, also our country. Our country is really struggling right now. We are all fighting as best we can,” Shvetsov commented.

The media reports that the journey of the two veterans was followed by people on social networks, as a result of which many Ukrainians started donating money to the two men.

The two men have raised more than $84,000 in total.