In Ukraine, “all soldiers will eventually reach their breaking point,” warns psychologist Tatiana Larina. More than a year has passed since Vladimir Putin’s decision to invade the country. Through bombardments and indiscriminate destruction, the violence of war annihilates the bodies. But also spirits. To support these men who rub shoulders with death and desolation, sometimes for long months without interruption, measures have been put in place.
In Kyiv, the Lisova Polyana Center has existed for more than three years and aims to treat the “invisible” wounds of soldiers. Further east, in Kharkiv, Oleksandr Vasilovsky decided to open a mental health center for soldiers, aware that he was facing exponential needs with the Russian invasion. Since June, between 80 and 100 fighters have met every week in this structure where they are given physical and psychological care. Propelled deputy chief of the Kharkiv armies on psychological issues after the Russian invasion, Oleksandr Vasilovsky explains that he “had to invent something to stabilize the emotional and psychological state of the soldiers”.
“We restore the power to fight”
Dana Mourzova, one of the psychologists at the Lisova Poliana center in kyiv, also insists on the importance of “stabilization”. The structure treats veterans but also soldiers who will have to return to the front, for whom “light therapy is recommended”. “They cannot settle everything because the progress made would be lost after returning to the front,” she analyzes. With sessions, art therapy, relaxation exercises, yoga, physiotherapy or even acupuncture, “we do not solve the problem but we stabilize them”. In the center of Kharkiv, all of the 2,500 soldiers already received are then sent back to the front. Oleksandr Vasilovsky gestures to the lake as a soldier strolls near the water with his son. “That’s what a soldier needs,” he says.
The lieutenant-colonel is aware of the importance of morale in the outcome of a war. “Here, we restore the power to fight soldiers. We put them back on their feet. Oleksandr Vasilovsky experienced the psychological brutality of war at the end of 2015, when his brigade, deployed for thirteen months without rotation, suffered a wave of suicides. “Each suicide causes panic and demoralizes the whole unit. However, without morale, no weapon is useful, ”insists the 43-year-old soldier. The formula designed to be “as fast as possible” combines physical exercises with psychological support. But also less scientific methods such as aromatherapy, meditation in rooms with salt walls or sleep under electrodes.
“We can’t prepare for war”
Whether proven or not, the methods deployed to support the psyche of soldiers are essential. “It makes me feel good,” says Nazar, in front of the center of kyiv. The 25-year-old was injured in the forehead by a landmine that fell from a drone. On the journey that takes him to his bus, the soldier remembers these shrapnel that hit him in the foot, buttocks and intestine. One of his brothers in arms died in the explosion. “The first month, I had nightmares about it at night and I had flashbacks during the day. The hardest part was at night. It was terrifying,” he admits, his face closed. “There are a lot of deaths. When the soldiers see their friends die, they are terrified, they shut themselves up. It becomes extremely difficult to communicate with them and send them to the front,” says Tatiana Larina. The psychologist works with officers to help them deal with the mental implications of war and conflict in their brigade.
“Even those who left in good conscience could not imagine what they would see. We cannot prepare for war,” insists the professional. Sheltered behind the doors of the psychologists who officiate in the center of kyiv, the stories unfold. All different in their contours, all similar in their violence. “Most often, we note a psychological exhaustion, they are tired from having been at the front for so long. The mourning of a comrade is also a recurring subject, as is the hypervigilance which leads them to feel permanently insecure, ”explains Dana Mourzova in her office. In the adjoining room, her colleague is talking with a soldier. In complete confidentiality. To help them manage anxiety, psychologists give them relaxation keys such as “square breathing”. “You exhale three seconds, you hold three seconds, you inhale three seconds and you hold three seconds. »
“We’re not toddlers, we’ve seen it all! »
In the common room, Vakthan brushes off the psychologists’ breathing exercises with a laugh. “Me, I’m thinking about how I’m going to kill Russians. It helps me a lot more to sleep! exclaims the 38-year-old soldier, taking the last bite of his snack. The words “Everything will be in Ukraine” hang over the play areas, from ping-pong to the pool table. Sitting on a low wall, Vakhtan awaits his turn. The tattooed colossus has been at the Lisova Poliana center for ten days. “Look at me, who could hurt me? I’ve been fighting since 2014. I’ve been shot with everything but I’m unkillable. I am always reborn! In the corridors of the centers, the soldiers seem practically all convinced of not experiencing any trauma.
“In the brigades, we have psychologists who monitor the psychological state of the soldiers. When a soldier reaches a critical point in terms of stress, dark thoughts or fear, for example, he is put on a list and comes here,” explains Oleksandr Vasilovsky. In the center of Kharkiv, Yuriy, press attaché for the 46th brigade, evacuates the question: “I am not traumatized, I was prepared, I expected it. We’re not toddlers, we’ve seen it all! “Leaning against the pergola, Mykhailo added: “I hesitated a lot to come, I have no psychological problem and I had a lot of work. »
The power of denial
The 53-year-old has been deployed to Bakhmout and Soledar where he is in charge of throwing mines. “He was suffering from tremors”, breathes Oleksandr Vasilovsky after the interview. “No soldier admits that he is traumatized like no alcoholic admits that he is an alcoholic”, he continues. So, the psychologists who choose the soldiers to be “rehabilitated” take side roads to convince them. “They don’t tell them they’re traumatized. It would be humiliating and would provoke resistance, ”notes the lieutenant-colonel. The soldiers crossed at the bend of the corridors almost all invoke a physical injury.
In the centers, all the men must follow group and individual therapies. “It’s in the program. Everyone does it, so they are less afraid of the judgment of others thanks to that, ”explains Dana Mourzova. The psychologist also insists on what they could bring to their brothers in arms. A technique that convinces even the most reluctant. “They help my boyfriend a lot, with whom I came,” agrees Vakhtan. “We discovered a lot of things here that will allow us to help colleagues,” says Mykhailo. “Because we saw anxiety attacks on the forehead,” adds Yuriy in an exchange of knowing glances with his colleague.
The psychological milestones of a civilian life to come
The professionals in the centers for soldiers are aware of making a temporary patch for their patients. “One of our priorities is to show them that the work of psychologists is not terrifying and that it can help them. They must be prepared for the stabilization to come. Very often they think it’s a mark of weakness but, fortunately, it passes quickly, ”explains Dana Mourzova. Oleksandr Vasilovsky believes that it is “absolutely necessary to prevent our soldiers from having the same fate as American soldiers after the Vietnam War”. A large study funded by the US government estimates that almost a third of them suffered from post-traumatic stress after the conflict.
“At the end of the war, most soldiers will admit their traumas and work on their rehabilitation. Some will have to be forced, ”analyzes the lieutenant-colonel. The work of these centers or even that of the psychologist Tatiana Larina thus makes it possible to relieve the psyche of the Ukrainian soldiers but also to lay the groundwork for a healthy mental health at the end of the war. “They will all have problems getting back to normal life. The war is a psychological break for them, but the return to a normal life will be too,” she warns. Some will “remain soldiers” when there will be no more fighting to be fought. But center by center, psychologist by psychologist, Ukraine is working to prevent them from remaining eternally trapped in the nightmare of war.