The «Saving Lives» project launched a prosthetics and rehabilitation program

The humanitarian initiative of the Metinvest Group, «Saving Lives», is introducing a large-scale program for prosthetics and rehabilitation of military and civilian residents of Ukraine. It is stated in the message on the company’s website.

Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation, the need for prosthetics for Ukrainian military and civilians has increased significantly due to hostilities. Those who need it often do not know where to turn for help. In addition, not everyone can pay for prosthetics on their own, the cost of which starts at several tens of thousands of euros.

“That’s why «Saving Lives» decided to help the victims to return to a full-fledged life,” the message says.

The first direction of the initiative’s work will be prosthetics and rehabilitation of Metinvest’s employees who defend the country in the Armed Forces. About 7,000 company employees joined the ranks of the Ukrainian army. «Saving Lives» together with the Prosthetics Maintenance Project in Ukraine and their partners «ProsthetiKa» and «Razom for Ukraine» will take over organizational issues and the preparation of documents regarding the prosthetics of victims. The first nine people are already receiving help and waiting for their prostheses.

The program includes preparation for prosthetics, installation of prostheses and follow-up in Ukrainian clinics, physical and psychological rehabilitation. At the first stage, it will cover 16 company employees and members of their families located in Ukraine and abroad.

The nearest plans are to expand the program and involve war veterans and civilians in the regions where Metinvest operates.

The second direction is the creation of a Ukrainian-language online educational platform for specialists in limb prosthetics and related rehabilitation. The partner is the Ukraine Prosthetic Assistance Project, founded with the support of the «ProsthetiKa» organization. Since 2015, the project has been engaged in raising the level of qualifications of specialists and the culture of prosthetics in Ukraine. During its work, it trained 400 specialists and helped more than a hundred patients.

The training of medical personnel will consist of 5 courses: rehabilitation, for prosthetists and patient care. They will contain video lectures and practical tasks from teachers from Ukraine, the USA, the UK and Sweden. After completing the courses, participants receive certificates of the type agreed with the Ukrainian Ministry of Health.

According to Yuriy Ryzhenkov, CEO of Metinvest Group, the «Saving Lives» initiative has been supporting those who need it most since the beginning of the war. The project helped hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians with food and basic necessities, and hospitals with medicines and equipment. Assistance is also provided in the psychological rehabilitation, education and reintegration of women and children affected by the war.

“To overcome the new challenges of war, we are expanding our humanitarian mission – we are introducing a large-scale prosthetics and rehabilitation program for wounded veterans and civilians. After all, Ukrainians, to whom we owe our lives, deserve the best prostheses,” noted Yuriy Ryzhenkov.

As GMK Center reported earlier, the humanitarian initiative «Saving Lives» was created by the Metinvest Group in coordination with the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation at the beginning of the Russian invasion. More than 300,000 Ukrainians have already received humanitarian aid within its framework. During the war, more than 3,900 tons of essential goods were delivered to Ukraine from abroad. 189 companies from all over the world joined the project. Medicines, consumables and equipment worth €240,000 have been delivered to Ukrainian hospitals since the beginning of the war.

Also, in June 2022, the information and analytical center GMK Center has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Saving Lives Charitable Foundation. The agreement was concluded with the aim of preventing a humanitarian catastrophe and helping the population of Ukraine. You can support the Saving Lives project by link.