Injured Ukrainian soldier treated in Kent

Dmytro is now living with his family in Kent while he rehabilitates

A Ukrainian soldier who nearly died after being injured in a Russian shell attack has travelled to Kent for treatment.

Dmytro is one of the first Ukrainian soldiers to receive NHS treatment in England since Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine nearly three years ago.

After a letter from Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust outlining the care he would receive under the NHS, the Ukrainian military allowed him to fly to the UK in January.

He is now living in Kent with his wife Maryna and young daughter Diana, who came to the UK as refugees in 2022.

Dmytro signed up to fight for the Territorial Defence Forces of Ukraine on the first day of Putin's full-scale invasion in 2022

Dmytro was a project manager in Kyiv before the war, but signed up to fight for his homeland on the first day of Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

He was serving on the front line in the Donetsk region when his unit came under attack last July.

He took shelter with a number of men and as shells rained down on them, two hit his hideout.

Dmytro was the only one, from the shelter, who survived.

He initially thought he would recover quickly.

As he lay in a hospital bed, he checked his hands and his legs were still there.

He remembered thinking: "It's all right. I'll be good in a hurry and continue fighting."

But he did not realise the extent of the injuries.

His knees and right hand were badly damaged and he had also suffered severe nerve damage.

He underwent 23 operations and had to learn how to walk again.

Dmytro's wife, Maryna, spent hours on paperwork and months waiting for permission to bring her husband to the UK.

She said: "When the war stops, we're happy to be together in our country."

For now, she said, she felt safer in the UK.

Dmytro was medically evacuated from hospital Kyiv in January

Dmytro now walks his eight-year-old daughter Diana to school every morning.

He said walking 500 metres on crutches to get her to the school gates is excellent physiotherapy for him.

Diana, meanwhile, is happy her dad is living with them.

"Instead of just going on phone calls," she said, "you can talk to him and hug him when you want to."

Dmytro walks his daughter to school every morning

Dmytro said he hoped he would soon walk without crutches.

He also said he has "an obligation" when he is well enough to return home to help with the war effort.