‘Abandoned’: Ukraine war veterans who fought Russia feel snubbed, forgotten

In Kyiv, a former soldier begs for money as he awaits official veteran status that would ease his plight. There are thousands of others like him.

Kyiv, Ukraine – On a freezing drizzly day in central Kyiv, Evhen Lomsky hobbled uneasily on crutches near a subway exit wearing a sign that read: “I’m starving.”

The bearded 48-year-old war veteran, who has lost his right leg below the knee, hails from Mariupol, a Russian-speaking southeastern city where he worked at a steel plant.

He volunteered in 2015, became a combat engineer, and “was married to the army for 10 years” until stepping on a landmine on September 17, 2023 in the Donetsk region.

“We were on our way, twilight began,” Lomsky recalled. “I heard a sudden blast and understood that my foot was damaged.”

After stints in several hospitals, where doctors removed shrapnel from his body and amputated his lower leg further for a future prosthesis, Evhen was discharged in mid-July.