TITLE: Body of war

Andrei comes from a small village in central Ukraine. Four years ago, when he turned 18, he enlisted to serve in the army. Last july, military vehicle he was driving ran into a russian anti-tank mine. In the explosion, more than 50 percent of his body was heavily burned. After a month of treatment in various hospitals, it was decided that he would be transferred to Poland to continue specialist treatment. Many other seriously injured Ukrainian soldiers, such as Andrei, are being evacuated to hospitals across the European Union as their homeland struggles against Russian aggression.
In a foreign country, in a small room of the burn unit, surrounded by nurses and doctors whose language he does not understand, Andrei will spend next few months full of pain, daily dressing changes and subsequent skin graft procedures. In the evenings he dreams about his girlfriend and his home. "When the war is over there will be a lot of work to do. I need to get back in good shape."

AUTHOR: Przemek Błaszkiewicz (Poland)