Ukraine war vets with amputations flee to NYC for refuge and care: ‘It’s a war of exhaustion’

Two injured Ukrainian war vets from different backgrounds are now living a new reality together in a house on Staten Island as they get fitted for prosthetic legs and hope their sacrifice is not in vain.

Vitaliy Fomenko, 37, toiled as a construction worker in Germany while married dad Hennadiy Degtyar, 47, was a financial planner before they took up arms to fight back against Russia’s craven invasion of their homeland.

When the pair both lost parts of a leg in battle, they ended up facing the same reality — and a temporary new life in New York City as they received crucial prosthetics thanks to a non-profit far from the death and destruction in their war-torn country.

Ukrainian military veterans Hennadiy Degtyar (left) and Vitaliy Fomenko are temporarily living in Staten Island to rehab their injuries and receive prosthetic legs. Stefano Giovannini for NY Post

Now, with the three-year anniversary of the horrific war Monday, the men are wondering if their sacrifice will ultimately be worth it.

“Of course everyone is tired, both soldiers and civilians, but we are doing everything we can, soldiers and civilians, beyond our possibilities,” Degtyar, the dad of a teenage boy, recently told The Post through a translator. “It’s a war of exhaustion.”

Fomenko said Ukraine needs to be victorious.

“If [the Russians] force us to give our territories, all of this trauma, all of this sacrifice, were in vain for what we are fighting,” he said.

The men said they had no idea what was ahead of them when Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops into the neighboring country Feb., 24, 2021.

Fomenko with the prosthetic leg he received through the nonprofit Kind Deeds. Stefano Giovannini for NY Post

Degtyar and his family, who live in Chernihiv, were startled out of sleep when they heard an explosion at the start of the incursion. The father said he and his neighbors immediately knew they had to protect their city by starting their own defense units outside the Ukrainian army.

Months later, he joined the country’s border service.

Fomenko happened to be back in Ukraine around February 2021 to celebrate the baptism of children in his extended family, he said. He had the option at the war’s outbreak to stay away from the fighting because of his mother’s health, but he wanted to join a squad with his buddies.

“When something bad is going on, we are joining each other and trying to do something,” he said through a translator. “It’s our will to do something for our country.”

Degtyar joined Ukrain’s border service shortly after Russia invaded the country. Stefano Giovannini for NY Post

Neither Degtyar nor Fomenko could avoid becoming two of the hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians wounded in the conflict. Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky said earlier this month that 31,000 Ukrainians have died so far in the war, although other assessments have put the country’s death toll much higher.

Degtyar and some of his fellow border guards came under heavy enemy fire in September while evacuating injured soldiers in Krasnohorivka. His right leg was hit and badly injured.

He was forced to wait a few hours in the dark, attempting to stop the bleeding before others were able to provide care.

Degtyar lost his leg after being hit while helping evacuate injured soldiers in Krasnohorivka. Stefano Giovannini for NY Post

All this time he was without pain killers, calling it “crazy pain.” He said he did whatever it took not to faint.

It eventually had to be amputated around the knee.

Fomenko also felt that unbearable agony while serving on the frontlines in the region of Donetsk, facing Russian drone attacks when his left foot was struck. He was able to care for himself – Ukraine’s army teaches its troops how to apply tourniquets – before help arrived.

Still, part of his left leg was amputated to save his life.  

Part of Fomenko’s leg had to be amputated after he was injured while fighting on the frontlines in the Donetsk region. Stefano Giovannini for NY Post

Fomenko getting around the city in a Kind Deeds van. Stefano Giovannini for NY Post

In hopes of top notch care, Fomenko and Degtyar took a train to Poland and then flew into the Big Apple in mid-January with help of Kind Deeds, a non-profit that helps Ukraine war vets return to normal life.

The two men are now living in a modest home on Staten Island, traveling to other parts of the city to be fit for their new prosthetics legs and undergo intensive rehabilitation during their short stay. They both use crutches as they adjust to the new normal.

Last week, the pair went to ProKinetics Physical Therapy, where medical staff monitored their wounded legs and had them do a series of exercises.

Degtyar getting physical therapy at ProKinetics clinic in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. Stefano Giovannini for NY Post

While at their Staten Island base along Vulcan Street, they exercise in a home gym that has a bench press, stationary bike, dip bar and pull-up bar in the basement. There is also table tennis for some lighter workouts.

Kind Deeds has helped more than 50 veterans of the Ukrainian war come to the US to receive prosthetic devices and treatment.

Some of the wounded troops were visited by Zelensky during a trip he made to the States in September 2023.

Fomenko getting physical therapy at ProKinetics. Stefano Giovannini for NY Post

The pair are commended by people around New York who recognize the men are veterans of battle because of their amputations.

“For America, you already have this culture of veterans,” said Kind Deeds Executive Director Hanna Korotych said.

Oleksandr Rubtsov, the president of Kind Deeds, said that beyond physical recovery, staying in the US for a few months gives veterans a respite from the horrors back home.

Fomenko and Degtyar with Kind Deeds Executive Director Hanna Korotych. Stefano Giovannini for NY Post

“It gives them a chance to step away from the war, to see kindness, support, and gratitude from people around the world, and to believe in a future where they can live fully again,” he said in a statement.

“We’re not just helping them walk—we’re helping them move forward.”

The two men are expected to go back to Ukraine in March.

The Ukrainian vets getting some exercise in the Staten Island house. Stefano Giovannini for NY Post

The pair are set to return to Ukraine in March. Stefano Giovannini for NY Post

Degtyar needs to find another job since the financial company he was working at closed because of the war, while Fomenko needs to receive approval from the Ukrainian army to be discharged.

But it’s unknown whether they’ll be greeted by peace or more violence when they get back.

The US and Russia began negotiations last week in Saudi Arabia to try to end the war – though Ukraine and other European nations were conspicuously left out in the cold.

Zelensky said Sunday he would be willing to step down as president if it meant Ukraine was accepted into NATO, or his resignation led to peace.

Fomenko and Degtyar both stressed that if Ukraine is pressured into surrendering land, their life-altering injuries would be for nothing. Both are holding out hope Ukraine’s allies stick by their side, knowing without the West, their country can’t stop Russia.

Until then, the exhaustion of war drags on for them and their loved ones, they said.