{"id":820536,"date":"2026-05-25T06:28:30","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T06:28:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/820536\/"},"modified":"2026-05-25T06:28:30","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T06:28:30","slug":"wounded-ukrainian-soldiers-visit-chicago-memorial-day-weekend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/820536\/","title":{"rendered":"Wounded Ukrainian soldiers visit Chicago Memorial Day weekend"},"content":{"rendered":"

Andrii Savenko had to find motivation deep within himself when he learned to walk again.<\/p>\n

The 41-year-old Ukrainian soldier was severely injured during a mine explosion in 2024 while fighting in the Russia-Ukraine war. He said he needed a prosthetic joint in his leg and plenty of physical therapy to recover. A \u201cchampion\u201d mindset is the only way he was able to make it through.<\/p>\n

Two years later, the progress he\u2019s made is so substantial that ran a 10K at the Soldier Field 10 on Saturday. He was joined by about 10 Ukrainian service members who traveled to Chicago for Memorial Day weekend.<\/p>\n

They told the Tribune that they hoped to honor both fallen American and Ukrainian service members on the holiday as the war in their homeland continues.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a good chance to be together with my comrades as a veteran, active duty wounded soldiers,\u201d Savenko said through an interpreter. \u201cAnd it\u2019s a good opportunity \u2026 to share the challenges we face every day in terms of recovery.\u201d<\/p>\n

Russia invaded Ukraine more than four years ago<\/a>, unleashing Europe\u2019s largest conflict since World War II. A report<\/a> from the Center for Strategic and International Studies earlier this year estimated that nearly 2 million soldiers on both sides have been killed, wounded or missing during the war.<\/p>\n

Ukrainian forces likely suffered around 500,000 to 600,000 military casualties between 2022 and 2025, the report found, which includes up to 140,000 deaths.<\/p>\n

One of those soldiers is Myhailo Yavorskyi, a Chicagoan who was killed in eastern Ukraine in 2023, leaving behind a wife and young daughter. Yavorskyi had returned to defend the country he was born in as a volunteer soldier.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt that time, everyone was fleeing from Kyiv \u2014 and he was going toward Kyiv,\u201d his mother Maria Yavorska, who lives on the Northwest Side, told the Tribune<\/a> earlier this year.<\/p>\n

Retired Maj. Gen. Volodymyr Havrylov, Ukraine\u2019s former deputy minister of defense, said he didn\u2019t know Yavorskyi personally but he does know his story. It\u2019s a \u201cvery emotional\u201d one, Havrylov said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not easy for Ukrainians at the time to imagine that somebody from United States \u2014 a very comfortable country with everything to live peacefully \u2014 decided to join our defense \u2026 and sacrificed himself,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s important to us that there are people in the world ready to join.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yavorskyi was recognized at Saturday\u2019s race in its \u201cCircle of Remembrance.\u201d The run honors \u201cthe courageous service members who sacrificed everything for our freedom,\u201d its website<\/a> says. There\u2019s a 10-mile and 10-kilometer option.<\/p>\n