Reconstructive procedures normally cost thousands of dollars but Tumbashyan and his team have been offering cosmetic reconstructive surgery to victims of the conflict for free. /Stephanie Freid/CGTN
Larissa was in a deep sleep when rockets hit her neighborhood in Odesa at 1 a.m. on July 1.
"I could hear my son scream, ‘Mom run!’. I went to the balcony, lifted my arms and was overwhelmed by flying glass, heat and debris flying everywhere. I couldn't see anything."
Blinded by the blast, Larissa crawled through the open space and twisted metal that had been her front door and started screaming. The next thing she remembers is volunteers helping her leave the area.
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Larissa suffered face and neck injuries – glass was embedded around her eyes and in her cheeks and chest area.
Several of her neighbors and friends were killed in the shelling.
Larissa, who has not been able to return to her badly damaged apartment since the blast on that July night. /Stephanie Freid/CGTN
She has not been able to return to her badly damaged apartment since that July night.
'My granddaughter was afraid of me, she didn't recognize me," says Larissa.
Larissa was thrilled when Artur Tumbashyan, a plastic surgeon from Mykolaiv, offered to correct some of her facial damage with cosmetic surgery.
These procedures normally cost thousands of dollars but Tumbashyan and his team have been offering cosmetic reconstructive surgery to victims of the conflict for free.
"We have the abilities and capabilities so why wouldn't we do this? Let's just say this is our battlefield," says the surgeon.
Larissa has undergone two surgeries and may require a third procedure. /Stephanie Freid/CGTN
Tumbashyan's team has performed half a dozen procedures since starting the project in July. There is a waiting list of those who want to be treated by them, and as word about their service spreads, that list is growing.
According to UN figures, up to 10,000 Ukrainians have been injured in the ongoing conflict. The U.S.-based Armed Conflict and Event Data Project reports that figure is a "severe underestimation".
Larissa has undergone two surgeries.
"We are cutting existing scar tissue in the eye area to stop her cheek from moving when she lifts her eyebrow," explained Tumbashyan as he scrubbed and prepared for her second procedure.
She may require a third operation but that will depend on the success of the latest procedure.
Larissa also suffered damage to her eye in the blast. She intends to get it treated after completing the reconstructive procedures for her facial injuries.
"At least now my granddaughter isn't scared of me. You can see the results for yourself. It's at least one thing I can feel relieved about,' says Larissa.