Kryvyi Rih amputee rebuilds life after missile attack

In the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih, Iryna Nakonechna is rebuilding her life after a Russian missile attack last year took her left leg and killed her husband. Her journey through grief and physical rehabilitation illustrates the profound, often hidden challenges faced by tens of thousands of Ukrainians who have lost limbs since the full-scale invasion began over four years ago.

The attack occurred on March 5, 2025, as Nakonechna, 50, and her husband, Serhii Nakonechnyi, took an evening stroll near a hotel entrance. A missile struck the building, hurling the couple apart. Nakonechna suffered a broken shoulder and catastrophic leg injuries, while her husband was taken to a separate hospital, where he died the next day. She underwent multiple surgeries over two months before she could sit up again, marking the start of a long and painful reinvention.

To cope, Nakonechna made a decisive break from her past. She cut her hair and removed nearly all furniture, clothes, and photographs from the apartment they shared, leaving only a single portrait of the couple. She said shedding her old identity was necessary to endure building a new life with a prosthetic limb.