During an evacuation of his fellow soldiers, a drone drop tore through his leg. For seventeen hours he held his position under continuous shelling. By the time help reached him, he already knew the limb could not be saved.

Through rehabilitation, his biggest motivation was to walk again. Sport had shaped him since childhood — taekwondo, football, boxing, wrestling — and now it carried him back.

For Pavlo, sports and loved ones weren’t part of recovery but recovery itself.

Before the war, the mountains were his other passion — he had hiked the Carpathians three times. Now he is preparing for his first winter ascent on a prosthetic.

Today, Pavlo returned to service in a new capacity. He contributes to Azov’s media work and fundraising, using his voice and his story to support the brothers and sisters in arms still holding the line.