WAR AT HOME ⟩ The Psychological Toll on Ukraine's Returning Soldiers

"We can't even imagine right now what will happen when veterans have been home for a while and encounter problems different from those they are used to here," Serhii explains.

The longer the war drags on, the more family issues will accumulate in soldiers' minds. Serhii is convinced that soldiers should not be left alone with their problems, but in the midst of active and brutal conflict, no one has the time or energy to address this issue broadly. He cites several instances of soldiers committing suicide right after returning from leave.

"One soldier came back from leave and was traveling with his commander to their positions. When they reached a point where they had to proceed on foot, he told the commander he needed to sit and think for a bit and would follow soon," Serhii recounts. "The commander got out of the car to wait, but within ten seconds, the soldier shot himself in the car."

The Ukrainian army does not disclose statistics on soldier suicides. Units have told Postimees that suicides are not uncommon. "There are many opportunities for it during the war," says Serhii.

In the 30th Brigade, currently fighting in the Donetsk region, they have set up a rest home for psychologically exhausted soldiers. Here, women with rapid military psychology training strive to get soldiers to talk and release some of their tension.

Tetiana, 49, and Olesya, 39, are among those working in the rest home. They were career military personnel dealing with logistics when the full-scale war began. They attended a 40-day military psychology course at Shevchenko National University in Kyiv and now identify soldiers in the worst mental state after battles.

Improvised Rest Home

The brigade has two groups of psychologists who take turns visiting units returning from battles. Typically, psychologists arrive on the second or third day after soldiers come back from the front. There's no point in going on the first day.

"They are still so stressed that they just don't open up or talk to you," says Olesya. "A soldier needs to rest a bit first; then you can understand by talking to him if something is wrong."

If the psychologists believe a soldier is in a bad mental state, they can take him, with the commander's permission, to the improvised rest home, where he can rest for three to five days and talk to them if needed. If it appears that the soldier's mental problems are deeper, he is sent for psychiatric treatment.

The rest home is a private house abandoned by residents fleeing the war in a frontline town in the Donetsk region. The brigade got permission from the owner to use the house and made minor renovations to accommodate soldiers comfortably. More than ten soldiers can recover there at a time.

The goal is for a stressed soldier to live a normal life for at least a few days, as much as possible in a rear city. Then, there is hope that the soldier will open up and talk about his problems. "We've even gone fishing with soldiers, and they've opened up there," says Tetiana. "Some just need to sleep well and clear their heads."

If the issues are not relationship-related but rather everyday problems, Tetiana and Olesya contact local authorities from the soldier's hometown and try to find a solution with their help. "Personal logistical stability is one of the most important things for any soldier," says Tetiana.

During the stay at the rest home, it is crucial to identify soldiers prone to suicide and work with them separately. "We have our test questions to identify them," says Olesya. "The worst are the so-called silent ones. They just don't talk at all." "No one usually commits suicide on the frontline itself," adds Tetiana. "It usually happens just after they leave the front."

According to the military psychologists of the 30th Brigade, there are no more problems with recently mobilized soldiers than with the so-called old soldiers. The biggest issue for the newly mobilized is not so much motivation, but that they enter a completely different world.

"If a person hasn't left Ukraine, it already shows they have some motivation," says Tetiana. "While in the army, men's motivation usually increases because they see what the enemy has done. Anger and a greater desire to protect their home and family arise."