Voice of War

Internews Ukraine Team with the support of IREX Veteran Reintegration Program

Problem After returning from war to normal life, Ukrainian soldiers suffer not only from physical injuries but also from psychological trauma. In most cases, they avoid talking about it and do not visit a psychologist. Most veterans and their families suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which further complicates their social adaptation. Due to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which began on February 24, 2022, the number of veterans in Ukraine will increase dramatically. There is no clear state policy on the rehabilitation of veterans and their integration into civilian life, which could lead to a humanitarian crisis in the country. In addition, the international information space is full of Russian propaganda. Therefore, an interesting idea arises to involve veterans in shaping the narrative about the war and Ukraine's position. Even if they survived physically, veterans still suffer from traumatic experiences and even more from the inability to explain these experiences to others. People often do not understand what the war veterans went through. And sometimes we are simply afraid to ask those who have been there about the war. One of the latest developments in stress management techniques is creative writing. The results of the study emphasize the benefits of emotion-focused coping writing in terms of emotional release and catharsis through self-expression. In addition, receiving empathetic comments and reading others' responses creates a sense that the community understands and supports you. Combating post-traumatic stress disorder through creative writing is an innovative technique for Ukraine. However, it is already used in the United States; for example, there is "hidden" psychological rehabilitation through veterans' writing about their war experiences. After such projects, some veterans become famous writers, such as Elliot Ackerman and Adrian Bonenberger. Solution We organized The Voice of War School of Journalism for the veterans of the Russian-Ukrainian war. 16 veterans took part in this project – men and women of different ages and professions. We developed a special course on writing skills to teach veterans how to use the power of words in a more effective way. Every week for 2 months the veterans met with the best writers and learned from their experience. The lecturers were well-known Ukrainian writers and publicists, such as Yuriy Andrukhovych, Oksana Zabuzhko, Kateryna Babkina, Rostyslav Semkiv, Oleksandr Mykhed, Pavlo Kazaryn, Lesya Hanzha, Iryna Tsilyk, Yevhen Spirin, Valeria Kwasniewska, Andriy Bondar, Victoria Amelina, and Pavlo Ostrikov. Results After two months of training, the veterans completed their stories. We published 22 of them on the online platform Voices of War (https://2022.voiceofwar.org/), giving Ukrainians the opportunity to learn about the people who have defended them. Veterans, meanwhile, had the opportunity to speak openly and honestly. The stories of veterans were also published by popular Ukrainian media outlets (The Village Ukraine, Ukrainska Pravda, Rubryka, Novynarnia). The 7 best stories were translated into English and published on the English-language media outlet https://ukraineworld.org/ so that an international audience could learn the truth about the war firsthand. The online platform with veterans' stories was launched in April 2023, and within the first few weeks, the organic coverage of essays exceeded 500 thousand. Some of the publications in the media outlets: https://www.the-village.com.ua/village/city/war/338097-golos-viyni-5-tekstiv-yaki-napisali-ukrayinski-viyskovi https://life.pravda.com.ua/columns/2023/04/19/253886/ https://rubryka.com/blog/golos-vijny-damba-mizh-zhyttyam-i-smertyu/ https://novynarnia.com/2023/04/19/podarovani-ochi-veteranskyj-bloknot-vitaliya-kyrylova/ https://rubryka.com/blog/ukrayinski-kolibri/ https://www.instagram.com/p/CrJWK9lNqTd/