Oleksandr Matviychuk, a 51-year-old former professional hockey player and coach who spent a decade on Ukraine’s national team and five seasons playing in Russia, traded his sports career for a military uniform when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Before the invasion, Matviychuk had been leading a Ukrainian youth team in Belarus and dismissed warnings of an impending attack. When war broke out, he contacted his former Russian hockey peers, most of whom either denied the conflict or told him to stay out of it to avoid being killed. Although offered a coaching position in Canada that would have provided a pathway out of Ukraine, he declined because he felt compelled to stay and fight.
Without prior military experience, Matviychuk enlisted and was assigned to Ukraine’s military intelligence agency (GUR). Over four years, he participated in various dangerous missions, including cross-border incursions.
In June 2025, his unit was deployed to evacuate Ukrainian troops surrounded by Russian forces. Upon arrival, they encountered enemy combatants immediately. A fierce firefight ensued, resulting in the death of one teammate and severe injuries to four others, including Matviychuk, who was shot in the face and arm. Applying his own tourniquet, he managed to walk to an evacuation vehicle while holding his weapon.
Matviychuk was hospitalized in Dnipro before being transferred to Kyiv, where plastic surgeons have spent over a year performing nearly a dozen surgeries to rebuild his severely damaged nose, jaw, and lips. The physical and psychological toll of his injuries has left him spending most of his time isolated at his rural cottage, as he dislikes drawing stares or receiving pity from the public.
Although he has received military service medals, he feels disconnected from them compared to the fond memories tied to his hockey trophies. While he longs to return to the sport he loves, he feels constrained by the ongoing war and the reality that his recovery is still incomplete, with further surgery planned.
