2024-02-18 03:37:59
“I was lying on my stomach and suddenly I felt a hellish pain, a suffocating smell and dirt in my nose,” former Ukrainian soldier Oleksandr Budko describes in an interview for Aktuálně.cz the moment that changed his life forever. In August 2022, he fought with his unit in a trench near the city of Izyum in northeastern Ukraine. The explosion of the shell of the Russian occupiers knocked him to the ground.
Twenty-seven-year-old Budko lived in Kiev before the war and worked as a barista. His dream was to become a graphic designer. When Russian troops invaded the territory of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, he joined the army. Shortly after the explosion of the grenade, Budek was taken to a hospital in Kharkiv. Although the doctors did their best to save at least one of his legs, three weeks later both of his limbs were amputated in another hospital in Poltava. People from all over Ukraine flocked to the hospital to support him on his way to recovery.
“I never wanted to give up, because of my family and friends. They were always with me, I didn’t have time to regret or think about how I’m going to live,” he says. Oleksandr Budko now moves on prostheses, professionally dances ballet and has become a national hero.
Oleksandr Budko, Ukrainian veteran Photo: Archiv, Oleksandr Budko
He joined the army without any previous experience, he had never been a soldier, but he liked to play sports. “I always just knew that when it started, I would go to the front. Right from Kiev in February, I was looking for ways to become a soldier so that I could take part in the most difficult battles. From the beginning, I was just a volunteer,” Budko recounts.
Today, he has six prostheses that can be changed according to what he is doing. Two doctors adapted him for sports, specifically running and crossfit. “I’m like a spider,” he jokes. Although his prostheses attract attention at first glance, he says that he has grown accustomed to them and does not like people to feel sorry for him. He got his first replacement leg in Ukraine, the others in the United States.
The road to the stage
It was in the USA that Budko got to know ballet for the first time, where he met the Ukrainian dancer Oleksiy Tyuthunnik. “Ballet seemed beautiful to me, I wanted to try it. People from the industry, whom I gradually met, figured out how to involve me with prostheses. It didn’t take long and I was performing my choreography in front of thousands of spectators all over California,” he describes and tells, that he tells the audience a story about the war through dance.
Ukrainian veteran Oleksandr Budko performs with the Ukrainian ballet company. | Photo: United Ukrainian ballet company
“I want to show what its consequences are. One of them is me. When people look at me, they will see what war leads to. I would very much like people not only in Ukraine, but also abroad to understand that war is not a choice and that what happened to me can happen to anyone,” Budko explains determinedly.
The soldier’s theatrical journey is exclusively followed in a new film by the American Hollywood actress and producer Sarah Jessica Parker. Slide titled Front Raw follows a group of Ukrainian ballet dancers who fled the country after Russian troops invaded Ukraine. Oleksandr Budko will be one of the central characters. “When the directors found out about me, the film had already been shot for a long time, but they decided to change it entirely. I am very happy about it,” adds the veteran.
In addition to showing the film, he came to Prague to christen his new book, a war memoir with the title The story of a stubborn man, which is published by his best friend, who now lives in the Czech Republic. In a small cafe in Žižkov, Budko, whom his friends call Teren, met with the predominantly Czech Ukrainian community. A handful of Czechs also arrived at the event, among them, for example, the co-founders of the Czech-Ukrainian organization Voice of Ukraine.
Oleksandr Budko has a very positive relationship with the Czech Republic. When asked how he evaluates Czech aid to Kyiv, he says that there were even four Czechs in his unit on the front line. “That’s the biggest proof, I don’t need more. It’s not just political and diplomatic dealings, I’ve seen with my own eyes how great you are. You willingly put yourself at risk, put your own life on the line to help save ours. That’s not forgotten, ” thanks the war veteran.
Even with prostheses, Budko does not rule out returning to the army again. According to him, the war can last a long time and he believes that he can continue to defend his country. He considers himself a role model for other Ukrainian soldiers who want to overcome the trauma of their injuries.
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