A fragile blonde combat medic who joined the army after losing her fiancé in Irpin. A young paramedic who refused to stand aside while his country fought for survival. A battlefield medic who treated a wounded Russian soldier because, despite everything, saving lives remained his duty. These are just some of the people brought together by the Repower Foundation’s recovery program in the Carpathians – a rare space where Ukrainian frontline medics can briefly step away from war, process trauma, and remember what life beyond the battlefield feels like.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. Since 2022, Repower has organized recovery programs for nearly 2,000 Ukrainian military medics and doctors in Ukraine, Sweden, Denmark, and Spain. Elena: grief turned into purpose At first glance, Elena Olenivska hardly fits the stereotype of a frontline combat medic. Fragile and strikingly beautiful, the blonde medic carries herself with calm restraint. But beneath that calm lies a story shaped by devastating loss. Elena joined the military after her fiancé was killed in Irpin on March 5, 2022. “That’s all,” she said, when asked what motivated her to enlist. Her mother urged her to leave Ukraine and go abroad. But even she eventually understood there was no stopping Elena. “She sat in the kitchen in front of me and said: ‘I’m trying to persuade you here, but I understand that you’ll return on foot,’ then stopped.”