# How a Ukrainian veteran injured fighting for Bakhmut finds peace in pottery

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/how-a-ukrainian-veteran-injured-fighting-for-bakhmut-finds-peace-in-pottery/
- Published: 2026-11-11T13:56:24+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-11T21:57:57+00:00
- Original publisher: Kyiv Independent
- Original article: https://kyivindependent.com/pottery-in-the-dark-2/
- Topics: Europe, World

## Key points

- Pottery helps blinded veteran Ivan Shostak manage recurring nightmares.
- Ukraine faces major gaps in rehabilitation and accessible care.
- Disability payments often cannot cover costly aids and prosthetics.

## Summary

Ivan Shostak, a 38-year-old Ukrainian veteran blinded in a Russian attack while fighting near Bakhmut in 2023, has found a way to quiet recurring nightmares through pottery. He works with clay by touch, shaping cups and bowls late into the night; his experience also highlights the challenges Ukraine faces in supporting people with severe war injuries.

Rehabilitation and access to care remain limited: the article says only 4% of Ukrainian hospitals offer inpatient rehabilitation, and one in four people report reduced access to medical services since the full-scale invasion began. Shostak receives 27,000 hryvnias a month, about 90% of the average wage, but says he could not access qualified vision specialists. By mid-2024, about 100,000 war-related amputations had been recorded, while the UN had verified 55,846 civilians injured as of September 2026.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.