Ukrainian war amputee fights his way to Paris Paralympic Games

[p][b]"I had almost said goodbye to life,"[/b] he told Reuters in the town of Reshetylivka. [b]"There was one thought in my mind: 'I'm 25, I haven't been anywhere, haven't travelled anywhere, haven't seen the world and now I'm dying'."[/b][/p][p]Seventeen months on and Korinets' life has turned around.[/p][p]The former military paramedic, whose left leg was amputated at the hip, qualified for the national sitting volleyball team and spoke during a break from training with fellow athletes ahead of the Paralympics in Paris which opened on Wednesday.[/p][p][b]"Now I am travelling, I've been everywhere: the United States, China, countries like that, and obviously Europe too,"[/b] Korinets said in early August during a break in drills in a gym in central Ukraine.[/p][p]He is one of around 140 Ukrainian athletes competing at the 2024 Paralympic Games, a competition that has taken on added significance after Russia's full-scale invasion that has left thousands of soldiers and civilians with life-altering injuries.[/p][embed guid="4b28aa7b-03ad-4c18-999f-ed20a3cfb839" url="https://x.com/UkrEmbCy/status/1829115536862486648" social-type="twitter" /][p]Russian and Belarusian athletes can only compete as neutrals without flags after their participation in global sports events was severely curtailed following the invasion.[/p][p][b]For Korinets, sport has been a major help with his recovery after losing a limb, and he encouraged other veterans to try it.[/b][/p][p]Their rehabilitation into society is a huge challenge for authorities two-and-a-half years into a conflict defined by intense artillery fire and heavily mined battlefields.[/p][p][b]"All types of sport must be popularised in towns and cities so that war veterans don't sit at home without knowing what to do,"[/b] he said. [b]"The boys must keep calling him, looking for him, telling him: 'This activity is available, let's train together, let's go, come on'."[/b][/p][p]Korinets, who is from the central city of Zhytomyr, said he went straight to the draft office on the day the Russians sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022.[/p][p]He first joined a defence squadron tasked with protecting critical infrastructure, before moving to the 30th Separate Mechanized Brigade as a paramedic stationed close to Bakhmut.[/p][p]The city was the scene of some of the fiercest clashes of the war so far, and Russia seized control of its mostly ruined streets in May last year.[/p][p][b]Ukraine's performances at recent Paralympics has far surpassed those at the Olympics. The Paralympic team ranked sixth at the Tokyo Games held in 2021 and third in Brazil in 2016.[/b][/p][p]Before leaving for Paris, Korinets had only one goal.[/p][p][b]"Victory, we don't need anything else."[/b][/p]