He returned to Ukraine at 18 to defend it, lost a leg but returned to service: Marine Yevhen Minzhener, 21, killed in action

Twenty-one-year-old soldier Yevhen Minzhener has been killed in action near Pavlohrad in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. He had lived in Türkiye but returned to Ukraine after turning 18 to defend his country. Yevhen was a UAV operator who lost a leg on the front line but returned to the defence forces after rehabilitation.

Source: the Unbroken rehabilitation centre

Details: Yevhen Minzhener was born in Kherson Oblast and moved to Türkiye while still at school. He was 17 when Russia's full-scale invasion began. After Yevhen saw photographs from Bucha and the capture of the defenders of Mariupol, he decided to return to his homeland and join the military.

"As soon as I turned 18, I took the first flight and I was back in Ukraine," Yevhen recalled.

Two months later, in March 2023, he joined the Hetman Petro Sahaidachnyi unit – Ukraine's 38th Separate Marine Brigade – and served in its 2nd Marine Battalion. He became a drone operator and took the alias Ondatra (Muskrat).

On 10 April 2025, he was wounded when a Russian drone struck the side of the vehicle he was in.

"I looked up from the tablet and immediately saw a flash of fire. The first thing I did was look at my guys, and only then did I realise something was wrong with me. I mean, my leg was gone… I realised it almost immediately," Yevhen recalled.

He underwent rehabilitation at Unbroken. After receiving his first prosthesis, Yevhen had to undergo a revision amputation and begin his recovery again.

During his rehabilitation, Yevhen took up rock climbing.

"For me, it's a way of adapting to the prosthesis. It's rewarding when, over time, you improve your climbing and can tackle longer routes and more difficult courses each time. As a hobby, a routine and rehabilitation – it's brilliant," Yevhen said.

After completing his rehabilitation, he returned to military service. He said he felt that the military was where he belonged.

Twenty-one-year-old Yevhen Minzhener was killed near Pavlohrad. His death was confirmed on 18 August.

Ukrainian serviceman Yaroslav Hrubych, a friend of Yevhen's, wrote: "You never did make it to see me at the prosthetics centre, mate. Before that, we'd met many times at my hospital in Kyiv. Your incredible energy was infectious. You set an example, and you were Spider-Man on a prosthetic leg.

But you could never have just sat on the sidelines. You were a force, and you still are, kid."

"He was so funny. Everyone who ever crossed paths with him loved him. Everyone who followed him loved him. And he loved the sun," Nadiia Lypchuk wrote about the soldier.

"Yevhen loved life. Truly. He was incredibly energetic, always on the move, full of character, strength and that special zest for life that was impossible not to notice," said prosthetics manufacturer Levitate Ukraine, for which Yevhen served as an ambassador.

Background: It was previously reported that a historian and teacher who had been missing in action in the operational zone of Russia's Kursk Oblast has been confirmed dead. His fate had remained unknown for a year and a half.

Subscribe on Patreon to back our journalism long-term.