More than 130 Ukrainian service members with severe facial injuries have already received surgery through the international medical mission Vision for Ukraine. Patients receive custom 3D-printed titanium implants and ocular prostheses that help restore facial bone structures and appearance after traumatic injuries. Below are the stories of three soldiers who have gone through this journey.
“Did they think they could take me out of the fight that easily? Not a chance,” Serhii says with a smile, remembering how he returned to service shortly after losing his eye.
Before Russia’s full-scale invasion, Serhii ran a small business importing curtain fabrics from Turkey. He had already served in eastern Ukraine in 2015–2016, so on February 24, 2022, he did not wait to be drafted. He went to the enlistment office himself.
In March, near Hostomel, a shell fragment struck him in the face. Serhii lost an eye, and the bones of his facial skeleton were severely damaged. According to him, doctors operated with whatever materials they had available at the time. Two months later, he received a glass prosthetic eye and returned to service.
Later, he was wounded again and had part of his foot amputated. Only in 2025 did Serhii return to the question of complex facial reconstruction.
“Visually, of course, it did not look great. But at the time, that was not the priority,” he says.
Today, Serhii is a patient of Vision for Ukraine, an international oculoplastic surgical mission initiated and organized by the Christian Medical Association of Ukraine Charitable Foundation. At Kyiv Regional Clinical Hospital, he is preparing to receive a custom ocular prosthesis designed to look as close as possible to his natural eye. But before that could happen, surgeons first had to reconstruct the bones of his face again.
The previous reconstruction had not been precise and had partially altered his facial features. Surgeons removed the old metal hardware and rebuilt the anatomical shape of his cheekbone and part of the eye socket using custom 3D-printed titanium plates.
Every patient who needs 3D-printed plates first undergoes a CT scan. Then engineers from MedCAD work together with surgeons to design patient-specific titanium implants. Each implant costs between $9,000 and $12,000, but for Ukrainian service members, these surgeries are provided free of charge.
“They fit like a glove,” said Dr. Jorge Corona, an oculoplastic surgeon from Dallas, after the operation.
Serhii says he can already feel a noticeable difference — and more confidence in his appearance.
“They didn’t just operate on me. They put me back together piece by piece.”
Artem is a Ukrainian soldier. This was his fourth and most severe injury. The explosion destroyed the soft tissues of his face, damaged his hearing and vision, and knocked out most of his teeth.
His recovery became a marathon — one surgery after another.
“Where was I operated on before? I wouldn’t even call those operations,” Artem says, recalling his long path of treatment. “They were putting me back together piece by piece.”
During the mission, Artem received two custom 3D-printed implants to restore the bone structures of his face. He still has a long rehabilitation ahead.
At home, his two young sons are waiting for him. They are the reason he keeps going.
“My old life is over. Now a new one begins.”
A bullet passed through Artur’s eye and nose and exited through the other side of his face. He lost vision in both eyes.
Doctors are honest: at this point, restoring his sight is not possible.
The first hours after the injury determined whether he would survive. Then came a series of complex surgeries in Kharkiv — to repair his liver, jaw, and facial bones.
In 2024, Artur received custom titanium implants, underwent a stage of ophthalmoplastic surgery, and later received ocular prostheses.
This does not restore his sight. But it helps restore a sense of wholeness.
“My old life is over. Now a new one begins,” Artur says.
His mother speaks about everything he has gone through with tears in her eyes. She takes out his childhood photos. In one, Artur is very young. In another, he is a teenager standing beside his brother.
“I look at these photos and remind myself again and again how strong he is,” she says. “My sons are very strong.”
Artur has children. They are waiting for their father and love him deeply. They are one of the reasons he continues to fight through treatment, pain, and uncertainty.
Since 2023, the Vision for Ukraine team has operated on more than 130 patients with severe facial injuries.
If you are a Ukrainian service member in need of reconstructive surgery, or if you are a relative of someone who has been wounded, please contact the mission team by filling out the application form at the link.
Text by Khrystyna Roman
Photos by Illia Larionov
This article is adapted from the original Ukrainian story published by The Ukrainians.
You can read the original version here: The Ukrainians
