Ukrainian filmmaker Oleh Sentsov again injured in battle

Oleh Sentsov, the Ukrainian filmmaker, writer, and activist who joined the military in February 2022, informed on July 17 that he received shrapnel injuries in battle.

"The week isn't over yet. On the first combat mission after my return, while disembarking, we came under artillery fire," Sentsov wrote.

"Bradley saved our lives again. Three were injured, mostly by shrapnel. (Some of the fragments) were already removed from my face, small pieces in my arm and leg will stay with me forever. The other guys are doing well too – Zaporizhzhia doctors know their business, thank you!"

Recently, Sentsov was allowed to go on leave to receive the Legion of Honor, the highest French order of merit, along with Ukrainian writer Oksana Zabuzhko.

The well-known filmmaker was injured on the front already on July 8, suffering a concussion.

His wife Veronika Velch said that Sentsov was experiencing health problems resulting from the previous injury even during his leave to receive the French award.

According to Velch, he was not given enough time to recuperate from his previous injury before he was sent back to the front, which is a common occurrence with other wounded soldiers.

"This is at least the third contusion in six weeks, each without hospitalization, put on five drips and sent onward," she wrote on her Facebook following Sentsov's most recent engagement.

"It sounds strange, but almost every family in which someone serves knows about this 'treatment protocol'."

"When the soldier is not given enough time for treatment and basic recovery and is thrown back into battle without a chance to breathe, what can you expect? This story is not new. More than a year without rotation on the battlefield, complex operations," Velch continued.

Sentsov was one of the most high-profile political prisoners held by Russia. He was arrested in Crimea in 2014 by the Russian authorities on the occupied peninsula and later sentenced to 20 years in prison for so-called "terrorism," charges internationally recognized to have been politically motivated. He was released in 2019 during a prisoner swap.

Oksana Lutsyshyna: Every wave is for you

Now it seems to me like I always knew Vika Amelina. This past week has been hellish – a mix of anticipation, knowing, and the impossibility of reconciling with this knowledge. How can I imagine life without her now? Where do I even begin? We met in 2014 in New York

The Kyiv IndependentOksana Lutsyshyna