All soldiers who survive this war will at least suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. Many are already being treated in psychiatric hospitals for mental and psychiatric disorders due to incidents at the front, the death of their comrades or fears experienced in captivity. Concussions and lost limbs are the most common injuries on the frontline. Some people lost one, others all four. They lose sight, hearing, sleep, weight, the ability to procreate, etc.
Vyacheslav Levytskyi and Serhii Potremai at the rehabilitation center on June 23, 2023 in Central Ukraine. Vyacheslav and Serhii met in russian captivity during the russian-Ukrainian war in March 2023. They were captured in Donbas and sold by the russian military to Kadyrov’s men for a prisoner exchange. Vyacheslav was barely alive at the time of his capture: he was shot in the legs and abdomen, and during 7 days and nights of moving from trench to trench in the hope of being rescued by his comrades, he froze his hands. He underwent amputation of all his limbs in Chechen captivity: his arms and legs were already affected by gangrene and could not be saved. It was here that he met Serhiy, who became his arms and legs in the hospital and then in Chechen basements, waiting for the exchange. On June 11, 2023, Vyacheslav and Serhiy were among 95 Ukrainian soldiers released from captivity and finally got to a hospital with the necessary conditions for treatment and rehabilitation.
Ukrainian former prisoner of war at the rehabilitation center on June 23, 2023 in Central Ukraine.
Ukrainian former prisoners of war during mask therapy at the rehabilitation center on June 23, 2023 in Central Ukraine. Mask therapy is one of the methods of psychological assistance used by doctors at the rehabilitation center for military who have been in Russian prison camps. This therapy is based on bringing a person’s inner deep state to the surface with the help of a mask and the possibility of more open communication with a closed face. On average, former prisoners of war stay at the center for 2 weeks. Physiatrists, psychologists, psychiatrists and general practitioners all engage in treating military from post-traumatic stress disorder, flashbacks and other psychological disorders.
Ukrainian former prisoner in t-shirt with the inscription Ukraine above all and Ukrainian trident during mask therapy at the rehabilitation center on June 23, 2023 in Central Ukraine.
Petro, 22, a former prisoner of war, is undergoing rehabilitation after captivity and amputation of his leg lost during a shelling in Mariupol on July 10, 2022 in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. On June 29, Petro, among other 144 prisoners from Azovstal, was returned home due to the exchange for the occupants. Now Petro’s leg is almost healed, but the phantom pains are still a long way off.
Vladislav, 22, a former prisoner of war, is undergoing rehabilitation after captivity and traumas received during a shelling in Mariupol on July 10, 2022 in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. On June 29, Vladislav among other 144 prisoners from Azovstal was exchanged and returned from captivity. Another serious operation is ahead of him, and then a long rehabilitation. Before the full-scale invasion Vladislav weighed 70 kilos and at the time of his release from captivity due to his wounds and poor or lack of food he weighed 50 kilos.
One of the many soldiers undergoing treatment for injuries received during the Russian-Ukrainian war at a local hospital on 9 July 2022 in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. The city’s hospitals receive dozens of wounded soldiers every day due to the proximity of the frontline, just 30 km away. Only those with very complicated cases or soldiers who cannot be transported are kept for long, while all others are transported to more distant hospitals to make room for new wounded.
Paramedics transport a wounded soldier in a wheelchair at the hospital on August 11, 2023 in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Ukraine. The Hospitallers is a Ukrainian medical battalion that exists of volunteers and thanks to the help of volunteers and philanthropists. Its activities include helping the wounded on the battlefield, evacuating the wounded to hospitals, assisting in rehabilitation, and delivering the dead across Ukraine to their places of burial. Due to the high demand for hospital beds in hospitals in frontline cities, the Hospitallers also regularly provide transportation of the wounded between hospitals to other cities.
Wounded soldier with one leg amputation at the resuscitation bus of Hospitallers on August 11, 2023 in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Ukraine.
Wounded soldier and staff of the military hospital during support concert of a local band at the military hospital on April 6, 2022 in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine.
Wounded soldiers and staff of the military hospital during support concert of a local band at the military hospital on April 6, 2022 in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine.