{"id":4008,"date":"2026-02-22T18:57:40","date_gmt":"2026-02-22T18:57:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/?p=4008"},"modified":"2026-02-22T18:57:40","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T18:57:40","slug":"hope-as-weapon-of-war-the-picture-show-npr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/?p=4008","title":{"rendered":"Hope as weapon of war : The Picture Show : NPR"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\n Sgt. Mykhailo “Misha” Varvarych, commander of Ukraine’s 80th Airborne Assault Brigade, delights in the ocean waters of Daytona Beach, Fla., on Jan. 28, 2023. For Varvarych, an amputee who received treatment and prosthetics in the United States, to live with joy and hope has become a weapon against war.
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Carol Guzy for NPR<\/p>\n

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Carol Guzy for NPR<\/p>\n

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This is the second part of a photo series about a Ukrainian war-wounded amputee. <\/em>Click here to see part one<\/em><\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n

Sgt. Mykhailo “Misha” Varvarych, a Ukrainian 80th Airborne Assault Brigade commander, traveled with his partner, Iryna “Ira” Botvynska, to Orlando, Fla., in January 2023 to receive rehabilitation and state-of-the-art prosthetics with assistance from a nonprofit group helping Ukrainian soldiers.<\/p>\n

He faced a new, profound battle: to walk again.<\/p>\n

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Along with a growing number of war-wounded amputees, Varvarych and Botvynska are navigating an altered destiny after he lost both his legs fighting during the Russian invasion. Their steadfast romance speaks not of life interrupted but rather adapted and embraced. To live with joy and hope has become a weapon against war.<\/p>\n

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\n Varvarych tries to keep balance as he begins walking on his new prosthetic legs at the Prosthetic & Orthotic Associates center in Orlando, Fla., on Jan. 31, 2023.
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Carol Guzy for NPR<\/p>\n

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\n Iryna Botvynska massages the stump of one of Varvarych’s legs, at the Prosthetic & Orthotic Associates center in Orlando, on Jan. 23, 2023. They traveled to the U.S. so he could receive rehabilitation and state-of-the-art prosthetics with assistance from the nonprofit Revived Soldiers Ukraine.
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Carol Guzy for NPR<\/p>\n

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The nonprofit Revived Soldiers Ukraine<\/a>, founded by Irina Vashchuk Discipio<\/a>, a Ukrainian living in Florida, says it has brought more than 100 soldiers like Varvarych to the U.S. for treatment since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. There is a shortage of specialists in Ukraine and hospitals have come under attack.<\/p>\n