UCU Helps Ukraine: Ruslan Zvarych

The soldiers of the special forces unit of the National Guard of Ukraine stationed in Alexandria appeal for help for their commander:

Zvarych Ruslan Mykolayovych was born in 1972 in the village of Yavorivka, Kalush district, Ivano-Frankivsk region. Before the war, he was a hand laborer who took care of his mother after the death of his father, and would go to Kyiv to get seasonal jobs. 

He was mobilized to the Armed Forces after he received a summons and immediately went to the military station. He was moved to the boot camp in Starychi and, after that, to Yavoriv. He was enlisted with the 24th Yavoriv Mechanized Brigade with the rank of sergeant and as was sent to the ​​ATO area (Lysychansk) a senior shooter. There is information that Ruslan fought in Severodonetsk. But this is only an assumption because where and how he got shot in the head is unknown as Ruslan can remember nothing. The investigation into that is currently ongoing. When the connection with Ruslan was lost, his relatives started searching for him and appealed to the military. The military said that everything is fine and Zvarych is at a military base and even (!) had not yet been deployed to the war zone. 

At that time, Ruslan was lying unconscious in the Mechnykov hospital in Dnipropetrovsk, where he was taken by air from Severodonetsk on April 28, 2015. Diagnosis: severe closed head injury, brain contusion of third degree, acute subdural hematoma in the right forehead-temple-vertex area, linear fracture of the upper jaw, nasal bone fracture, and other. In that hospital, Ruslan underwent surgery: removal of acute subdural hematoma on the right forehead-vertex-temple area. His postoperative condition was considered difficult: skull defect 12x12 cm, left-sided hemoparezis with expressed intellectual and mental disorders. After the treatment in the Mechnykov hospital, Ruslan was sent to a rehabilitation department of the Lviv military hospital. His condition was moderately difficult.

 

When he was still unconscious, Ruslan muttered his surname and the name of the village. The volunteers began to search and found that, indeed, there is such a village in the Frankivsk region and there are Zvarychs living in it. Then the volunteers got in touch with the wife of his younger brother Mykola via Facebook. The family recognized Ruslan’s on the photos and immediately went to visit him in Dnipropetrovsk. Mykola is at his brother’s side in Lviv all the time, as Ruslan is still helpless and is not speaking, although he responds when called; he can not walk or serve himself.

In 3-4 months, Ruslan will need a surgery to implant a titanium plate in his skull. The family has no money for the treatment, and the volunteers are providing him with everyday necessities. They are saying that the brothers are very modest, are not asking for much and are satisfied with what they are given.

To contribute toward Ruslan's treatments and therapies, please visit your branch or contact the call centre at 1.800.461.0777 to make a donation.

Lots of photos of the injured soldiers we are helping can be found on our Facebook page in the album UCU Helps Ukraine.

Read the stories of some of our other heroes:

Oleh, Roman, Mykhaylo, Andriy, Mykhaylo, Serhiy K., Olexander, Victor, Serhiy, Olexander, Andriy, Anton, Oleksij, Yevhen, Yurij, Serhij, and Ruslan.

Questions and inquiries about this initative can be directed to the UCU Helps Ukraine committee: 
Kateryna Litvinjuk klitvinjuk@ukrainiancu.com
Michael Zienchuk mzienchuk@ukrainiancu.com
Roman Mlynko rmlynko@ukrainiancu.com