Ukrainian soldiers have been fighting at the front for months. Now they’re being sent for mental health help

Years before Russia launched a full-scale attack on Ukraine, Lt. Col. Oleksandr Vasylkovsky saw that soldiers in the east of the country were struggling to deal with the mental health consequences of war and living through war.

Some abuse alcohol and drugs, and some commit suicide. More than 14 months after the whole country has plunged into war, Vasylkovsky said the death is a big problem in the Ukrainian military, but he could not talk about statistics because they are classified.

“Man is not made of iron or concrete,” he said. “People have limits and when they violate them they can experience psychological distress.”

In June with the help of donations and foreign aid, Vasylkovsky launched a health program where soldiers can receive weeks of physiotherapy and psychological counseling, along with alternative treatments designed for restorative, such as laser therapy.

Vasylkovsky, who is with the National Guard of Ukraine, spoke to a freelance crew working for CBC news and gave them access to the center, as long as the exact location is not known for security reasons.

Take a week off, then get back to fighting

Every week 100 soldiers arrive at the site in the Kharkiv region, which is used to house Soviet sanatoriums designed for people with chronic health problems or those who need rest and relaxation.

When the news crew visited the site, 40 percent of the soldiers there had come from the Bakhmut region. For months there has been a hellish war there, which has caused heavy losses in Russia and Ukraine.

“The human psyche is broken,” said Vasylkovsy, noting that soldiers fighting today not only deal with the horrors of war, but also, in many cases, the stress of being separated from family members who have migrated to the west or outside of Ukraine. .

Vasylkovsky said 95 percent of soldiers were sent back to the front lines after a week’s rest.

Dmytro Manchenko, 26, said his family tried to call him every day, often in tears. He finds it difficult to shake his fear, as he worries every time he goes out on a mission in eastern Ukraine.

Since September, Manchenko has been driving a tank near Avdiivka, in Donetsk, a heavily trafficked area. Russian bombardment in the new week.

“Everybody’s scared in their own way,” he said. “One explosion and you’re dead. It might not happen, but what if it does?”

During the mission, Manchenko said his tank broke down when he was just over a kilometer away from the Russian position. They came under shelling and were forced to run for their lives.

Another time, his tank was hit by machine gun fire.

Manchenko said he wasn’t sure why his commander made the decision to send him to the health center, but admitted that unlike other units, he was calmer and tended to hold back his emotions.

Salt room, swimming and therapy sessions

When it comes to those affected by the protracted conflict and war, the World Health Organization (WHO) believes that one in five people will suffer from mental health problems like depression or post-traumatic stress disorder.

When these estimates are applied to Ukraine, the WHO expects nearly 10 million people to suffer from mental health problems.

Vasylkovsky believes there must be a new rehabilitation system for the entire population of Ukraine, as families, medical staff and essential workers all experienced the horrors of war.

Between 2014 and 2016, Vasylkovsky worked with military psychologists to support the fighting forces in Donbas. But then he had his own struggles with mental health that led him to retire from the military, before rejoining in 2019.

They are now focused on trying to set up additional health centers, including one in the Sumy region, northwest of Kharkiv.

At the health center, some soldiers were joined by their partners and children. They can participate in several sessions such as salt room therapy, or swim in the warm swimming pool in the center.

In addition to the soldiers’ joint counseling sessions, they also get to spend one-on-one time with a psychologist.

Although most soldiers soon return to the front lines after a break, Vasylkovsky said if they need more time with a psychologist, they can stay for a week or two.

If it is clear that he has a serious health problem, then he can be sent to the hospital.

Back to front

Yuir Ievlev spent several weeks in the hospital last May after his artillery unit was hit by bullets. Two of his fingers had to be amputated and all the tendons were destroyed in the third.

As the 59-year-old stood outside among the trees listening to the birds, he held a cigarette between the remaining fingers of his right hand.

He said what he saw and heard in the hospital was more traumatic than anything he had experienced so far in the war. He described hearing the screams of the incurably ill, and the groans of dying patients.

Despite his injury, he wanted to return and join his unit. He said he was constantly drawn back to war like a disease.

His fellow soldiers, many of them in their 20s, call Ielev “Grandpa” because of his long, white beard, and often turn to him for advice.

She insists she doesn’t suffer from mental health problems now, but says it’s difficult to talk to the female psychologists on staff at the center because there are “a lot of issues that women can’t talk about.”

While Ielev says he is managing, he believes it will be difficult to adjust to a normal life when there is peace.

They say it takes time and support to forget.

“Forget those explosions. Forget death and don’t smell blood or burning … don’t look at the sky for fear of seeing drones flying.”