Kyiv's amputee league helps war survivors 'rediscover a will to live'

Ukraine's veterans are using football as a form of rehabilitation from severe injuries - with VAR in use and a full national competition set to begin later this year

- Nick Ames

Little more than four months ago, Konstantyn Moskal arrived at a new position close to Ukraine's frontline. He had been serving in the army for six years and, as a native of the almost entirely occupied Luhansk region, knew the price of war better than most. It was soon to take a horrifying toll from him. Moskal stepped on a landmine shortly after the rotation and life changed irrevocably. The evacuation procedure went smoothly, in the circumstances, but his lower left leg could not be saved. It was hard not to think dark thoughts after two operations; tougher still given a prosthetic was nowhere on the horizon.

Now it is mid-May. Wearing the red, yellow-trimmed shirt of FK Khrestonostsi, Moskal puffs out his cheeks before sitting in the dugout. He props his crutch against the neighbouring seat. The second half of the final is starting and he will take a breather. He smiles at his wife, Alina, who watches from the front row. This time he has remembered to wear his talisman, a metallic cross fastened around his neck, and he tells her it is the reason for his two goals. Soon he will almost certainly win his first football tournament. "Rest up or you won't be able to lift the trophy," a teammate advises.

How can life ever compensate for the loss of something so fundamental? Almost everyone playing here is grappling with that question. The "League of the Mighty", a competition created by the Ukrainian FA for its amputees, is trying to offer some kind of answer. Before Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, Ukraine had no more than 10 registered amputee footballers. Now there are 170, which is about 15% of Europe's total. Estimates suggest as many as 50,000 people have lost limbs owing to the war.