REPORTING. In Ukraine, rehabilitation centers to help soldiers “morally exhausted after two years”

In a rehabilitation center in the Kharkiv region, Ukrainian soldiers try to treat their psychological trauma caused by the war.

In fatigues or tracksuits, Ukrainian soldiers let themselves be lulled by the relaxing music of an aromatherapy session. These soldiers are following a program in a rehabilitation center in the Kharkiv region for a period of two weeks. Each group is made up of around twenty soldiers. They are accompanied by a psychologist, which Sergeï did not really understand at first. “We had no choiceexplains Sergei, our commanders sent us here to follow the center’s rehabilitation program. But actually, I feel good. There, it’s constantly stressful, here you rest and change your mind.”

In Ukraine, the mobilization of new troops is a major subject as the country enters its third year of war. There is not enough turnover on the front and leave is too rare. The psychological consequences are even more devastating for the soldiers, worn out psychologically and physically. In this center, we are trying as best we can to get soldiers vaguely back on their feet.

Problems with violence or suicidal thoughts

The center also allows families to meet up during the duration of the program. When he is not following the proposed activities, Yuri is with his wife Natalia and his daughter Sofia, whom he has only seen two weeks since the start of the conflict. “After two years, I am morally exhaustedsays Yuri. A lot of guys aren’t holding up because more than two thirds of our army is made up of conscripts, who had never been exposed to war. But she came into our lives so we’re going to war.”

It is the unit psychologists who decide who should follow this program. The men on the front can encounter adaptation problems, says the director of the center, problems of aggression, violence, inability to communicate or even suicidal thoughts. The mental health of soldiers is a major challenge for Ukrainian society, explains Igor Prykhodko: “On a scale of 0 to 100, the importance of this topic is 150. It’s very important, almost all soldiers suffer from combat stress. The state thinks about it, of course, but obviously we don’t We don’t have enough resources.”

About 5,000 soldiers passed through the center, which opened six months after the start of the war. According to data not confirmed by the authorities, there are at least 200,000 soldiers on the front line, on the front, in Ukraine.