[1/5] Oleksii Poliakov, member of the National police special demining unit works with mine fuses during a demining operation near Izum town, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine, October 24, 2023. By May the following year he was back at work, standing on a prosthetic limb, sweeping for and defusing mines. But she has accepted it," he told Reuters while working in the Kharkiv region this week. Valeri Onul, another sapper, also returned to work in the unit despite losing a leg in a blast in November. Even in the immediate aftermath of the blast, he said he was sure he would return to mine-clearance work when he had made a recovery.

---

Persons: Sofiia, Ilkiv, –, Valeri Onul, Tom Balmforth, Deborah Kyvrikosaios Organizations: National, REUTERS, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Izum, Ukraine, Kharkiv region, KHARKIV, Russia, Kherson, Kharkiv, Dementiivka