A Soldier's New Game
Oleksandr Matviychuk once dominated the rink as one of Ukraine’s elite hockey players, skating in the Kontinental Hockey League before the sport became a casualty of his country’s conflict.
When Russia launched its full‑scale invasion, he answered the call to arms, joining Ukraine’s military intelligence agency, the GUR, and was quickly thrust into high‑risk evacuation duties.
The Weight of War
In June 2025, while attempting to pull surrounded soldiers from a hostile pocket, he was shot in the face and arm, sustaining injuries that required nearly a dozen surgeries and left his nose largely destroyed.
The physical reconstruction has been only half the battle; the psychological toll of war, the loss of comrades, and the constant proximity to violence have reshaped his outlook on life.
Though he still dreams of returning to the ice, the ongoing war and his lingering health issues keep him tethered to the front lines, where he now spends much of his time at a secluded dacha, seeking moments of peace.
His medals, earned for service in the GUR, serve as bittersweet reminders of a career that once celebrated competition and camaraderie, now repurposed as tokens of survival.