Support and Employment of Veterans and Their Families

• PROBLEMATIC SITUATION

The country faces a major challenge: more than 1.3 million veterans have already returned from the front, some of whom have injuries and amputations. Adaptive sports are one of the tools for reintegration, allowing each person to feel strong, active, and needed again. It is a path not only to physical recovery but also to overcoming psychological isolation. As of today, the company has over 500 defenders, 80 of whom have already returned as veterans and are going through various adaptation stages.

For businesses, supporting adaptation programs-through education, employment, and sports-is an opportunity to invest in the country’s future, prevent the loss of valuable workforce, and support economic recovery by engaging veterans in active life. Supporting such projects is not only about social contribution, but also about creating an ecosystem where every hero gets a chance to realize their potential.

SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM

Restoring veterans’ faith in themselves through peer-to-peer sports, as well as scaling adaptive sports in communities. At the beginning of the year, the IT company EPAM, in partnership with the “Come Back Alive” Initiative Center, purchased 10 new specialized wheelchairs and held a friendly game among veterans and civilians. Overall, there is a shortage of such wheelchairs-only about 50 across the country. After the pilot stage, partners, with the support of the Ministry of Veterans Affairs, organized a week-long training camp for veterans, where participants could learn the rules of the game with coaches. The final event was a large national competition in Kyiv, with 66 veterans forming 8 teams from all over the country.

The competition became a celebration for veterans and their families, raised public interest in rehabilitation through sports thanks to media and bloggers, and showcased new opportunities for community representatives.

In autumn 2025, two regional events were held in Odesa and Ivano-Frankivsk to promote adaptive sports culture.

Dmytro Yakymets, Head of ESG Projects at EPAM Ukraine: “We understand the value of the adaptation period for defenders, as we have them in our company as well. Returning to civilian life can happen in different ways, for example, through work or education. Thanks to adaptive sports, our defenders regain a sense of capability, desire to live, fight, and enjoy life. And communities have tools to implement support programs for veterans locally.”

Challenges:

Psychological readiness of veterans to leave home and join training; Lack of proper sports equipment, high cost of wheelchairs; Weak culture of supporting adaptive sports among the population. The total budget for supporting adaptive sports in 2025 amounted to over 2.5 million UAH.

RESULTS OF THE DECISION

• Raising awareness and directly engaging over 100 veterans and their families in adaptive sports; 

• Spreading the practice of organizing events for veterans to the regions; 

• Strengthening partnership cooperation in the regions, particularly through communication with local clusters, which helped find local business partners to continue the project in the community; 

• Enhancing the company’s image as socially responsible (externally in the market and among its own employees), working with veterans through training and retraining programs “IT for Veterans” and recovery through sports; 

• Changing the personal experience of each veteran. Andriy Solomin, former company commander who lost a limb due to injury: “It is very important to socialize, to realize yourself, to find your sport, to make new acquaintances and expand the veteran community. The atmosphere at such competitions is incredible. Everyone wants to win, you can feel the true spirit of competition. During the first game, I felt like a movie hero. It’s more than just a game.”