The President of Ukraine has issued a decree honoring members of the Ukrainian national team who represented our country at the Invictus Games international sporting event, which took place in Düsseldorf (Federal Republic of Germany) in 2023 and in Vancouver and Whistler (Canada) in 2025.
Two representatives of the Donetsk region, winners of the competition in Canada, Oleksandra Andrienko and Viktor Dykyi, were awarded the Order of Merit, III degree.
Viktor Dykyi won silver in cross-country skiing and also helped the Ukrainian sitting volleyball team win bronze. Before the Russian aggression began, he worked as an energy dispatcher at the Lyman station of the Donetsk railway. In 2014, he voluntarily joined the Ukrainian army, enlisting in the Artemivsk battalion. He suffered his first injury while breaking out of the encirclement in Debaltseve in February 2015. Due to the full-scale Russian invasion, Viktor Dykyi returned to the Ukrainian Armed Forces as part of the Donbas National Guard battalion. In December 2022, he was seriously wounded in a battle near Kreminna and lost both legs.
At the 2025 Invictus Games, Oleksandr Andrienko won a bronze medal in biathlon, a silver medal in the 4-minute rowing machine event, and also contributed to the bronze medal success of the Ukrainian national sitting volleyball team. From 2016 to 2020, Oleksandr worked as an investigator in Avdiivka, and later in the Donetsk Region Court Security Service. In 2023, he returned to the ranks of the National Police of Ukraine and joined the Lyut assault brigade, fighting as part of the Luhansk assault regiment. In July 2023, Oleksandr was wounded near Kurdyumivka, resulting in the loss of his leg.
The Invictus Games is an international adaptive sports event founded by Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, in 2014 for military personnel and veterans with injuries, trauma, or illness. Ukraine has been participating in the competition since 2017. During their performances at the Invictus Games, representatives of our country have won over 100 medals.
Participants in the Invictus Games are a shining example of courage, resilience, and unbreakable spirit. Their sporting achievements are not only the result of hard work, but also proof that it is possible to recover from injury and return to a full life. Sport is an important tool for veterans and military personnel in their rehabilitation, helping them to regain confidence in their own abilities and discover new opportunities for self-fulfillment.