The Ukrainian counter-offensive continues. kyiv continues to recruit civilians. To better prepare them, the army reinforces its ranks with psychologists hired to prepare these civilians to kill.
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Maria, in her thirties, is trying to take a breather in one of her city’s large parks. The war launched by Russia against kyiv forces her to do what she had never imagined. This psychologist does not help the soldiers to heal themselves, but she now prepares them to kill: “War leaves no room for emotions. So we teach them to be tough”she breathes.
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Many Ukrainian soldiers are simple civilians condemned to take up arms to defend their country, condemned, therefore, to kill. Maria must teach them this change to operate as soon as they are on the front line. “We teach them to do a ‘switch’ and it’s very important: we call it dehumanization. We explain to them that they have in front of them, not human beings, but targets and that they must follow orders. If we don’t prepare them like this and they end up having to kill, it will break them right away”explains Maria.
“It is my duty to help the soldiers”
Maria admits it, it’s very hard for her: she too is forced to dehumanize herself to succeed in instilling it in the soldiers. “The post-traumatic stress symptoms they suffer from, their flashbacks, the nightmares, guys who break down crying, addictions to alcohol, drugs… On all these symptoms, we’ll work on them later , after the war. There they concentrate on their tasks, their work as soldiers“, she sweeps.
This psychologist believes that it is her “duty than to help the soldiers”. But she lets go that she would have preferred to “never have to do that”.