The first Innovative Rehabilitation Center for Wounded Soldiers of the RECOVERY national network founded by Victor and Olena Pinchuk has opened in the city of Dnipro.

According to a press release on Wednesday, by the end of this year, 10 RECOVERY centers will operate in Vinnytsia, Dnipropetrovsk, Kyiv, Lviv, Odesa (two centers), Rivne, Khmelnytsky and Cherkasy regions. The founders have already donated $11.5 million to the RECOVERY project.

The RECOVERY center is unique and built to the highest international standards. Modern physiotherapy equipment is installed here. Physical rehabilitation rooms are equipped with innovative equipment with virtual reality, which provides feedback to the patient. The complex of simulators and devices for rehabilitation covers the whole range of possible functional disorders of patients (including those resulting from mine-explosive wounds) and helps them to recover at a high technological level.

Since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, many wounded defenders and defenders who need further treatment and rehabilitation end up in the front-line city of Dnipro. Rehabilitation is required from the first day because the results of the recovery of lost functions and the quality of life of patients depend on timely rehabilitation steps.

At the RECOVERY center in Dnipro, the first patients are already undergoing rehabilitation. The Department of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine was renovated here, the wards are equipped taking into account the requirements of inclusiveness. Multifunctional beds with electric drive and furniture have been installed for a comfortable stay of patients. The center is equipped with 30 beds, so during the year more than 600 wounded soldiers will be able to receive comprehensive rehabilitation assistance here.

In total, more than 11,000 patients a year will be able to receive rehabilitation assistance at RECOVERY centers throughout the country.

On the first day of the operation of the RECOVERY center in Dnipro, businessman and founder of the project Victor Pinchuk visited it, where he met with the soldiers undergoing rehabilitation and doctors.

"Our Heroes risk their own lives defending the freedom and future of Ukraine. It is an honor for me and my wife Olena to help them return to full life after being wounded. The war, unfortunately, showed that the rehabilitation and support of wounded soldiers will be the most important task for years to come. This requires a systematic approach and assistance to the private sector. Therefore, we decided to quickly create a network of the most modern rehabilitation centers throughout Ukraine on the basis of public clinics," Victor Pinchuk, the founder of the RECOVERY project, said.

In turn, the head of the physical rehabilitation medicine department for rehabilitation, the head of the multidisciplinary team in the city of Dnipro, Alla Pivnyk, said that ultra-modern equipment with virtual reality equipment has appeared in the RECOVERY center, which provides feedback to the patient.

"The functionality of the new equipment is very diverse. This will make it possible to more effectively recover for those who need rehabilitation," Pivnyk said.

According to the press release, the English name of the RECOVERY project was not chosen by chance – it was in London on June 28, 2022 that the Pinchuk family presented Jeff Koons' seminal sculpture Balloon Monkey (Margenta) at Christie's auction house. The sculpture was sold for $11.5 million – the proceeds from the sale were used for the RECOVERY project, which includes: the creation of a national network of rehabilitation centers for gravely wounded soldiers, the rehabilitation of wounded soldiers in partner clinics, complex prosthetics for wounded soldiers, as well as international educational programs for rehabilitation specialists and more.