the psychotherapists of the survivors of Azovstal describe people “traumatized”, “mutic” and “in distress”

“They are traumatized…”: the word is that of Valéry. For the past few days, the Ukrainian psychotherapist, based in the city of Zaporijia, has been providing psychological follow-up to the first evacuees from the Azovstal factory in Mariupol. On Saturday May 7, a group of fifty people, made up of women, children and the elderly, was in turn able to be evacuated from the steelworks, the last pocket of resistance of the Ukrainian forces against the Russian army in the devastated city. from Mariupol.

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According to the scenario of the first wave of evacuation, the civilians are isolated for about three days in tents and searched by the Russian army before going by bus to the city of Zaporizhia, away from the Russian positions. It is in this town that Azovstal has set up a medico-psychological unit in Zaporizhia with two psychotherapists.

When the survivors from Azovstal arrived here, they were unaware of their psychological distress. Marina, a psychotherapist, began by reassuring them: “They arrived with a lot of stress, she describes. At the beginning, it was I who spoke to them, I put them in a good mood. Then they were able to communicate…”

Among these survivors, many suffer from serious psychological and physical disorders. The psychotherapist mentions in particular a man who can no longer speak and who is seized with violent diarrhoea. “This man was in a constant state of stress because he had to leave his shelter every two days to fetch water from another workshop and he andgoing through constantly bombarded areas”, she explains.

“At times like this, your body stays on alert, everything slacks off and you have very serious problems.”

Marine, psychotherapist

at franceinfo

Among the evacuees, many women, children and teenagers, like this 13-year-old girl who was locked up for 65 days with her mother. To Marina, she assured that she will never return to Mariupol again: “She told me she wanted to cut all ties with the city of death. It struck me so much… I know that at that age, when you make such a decision, you rarely go back on it.”

Survivors also come to get medicine but, according to Valéry, psychological care must also be immediate: “We work with traumatized people because almost all of them have lost loved ones or their homes.“, he describes. Physically they are here with me but mentally they are still there.”

“Surrender is not an option because our life does not interest Russia“Said Ilya Samoilenko, one of the representatives of the Ukrainian armed forces who are still blocked in the factory, on Sunday.