United to win: Ukrainian military psychologists successfully complete training in Britain

Photo: General Staff

Maria Ignatenko

As part of the "INTERFLEX" operation, psychological officers and female psychologists completed their training for the first time on the territory of Great Britain. The pilot course of combat stress control groups lasted five weeks.

The General Staff of Ukraine's armed forces reports this.

"Ukrainian military personnel on the front lines endure significant psychological burdens and stress. Deaths, injuries, loss of brothers and sisters, and heavy shelling are the realities that our soldiers on the front line have to see and experience. Therefore, the joint efforts of the Ukrainian and British sides have developed and introduced a course designed to train professionals who will help soldiers overcome combat stress," the General Staff noted.

^{Photo: General Staff}

The course consisted of a theoretical and practical two-week phase, during which psychologists work closely with military personnel of Ukraine's armed forces. British instructors also explained to Ukrainians how to effectively work with military personnel with psychological trauma, how to psychologically restore and rehabilitate them, as well as how to provide psychological first aid.

"In addition, this is a unique opportunity to exchange experience: the Ukrainians tell the British about the realities of our war, and the British, in turn, share their experience of working with veterans who went through combat and suffered from post-traumatic stress disorders, but under different circumstances," added the General Staff.

^{Photo: General Staff}

Based on the results of the pilot course, the parties agreed to train more than a hundred psychological officers from combat units under this program over the next year.

For reference:

As previously reported by Rubryka, the Council of the European Union today, November 2, decided to provide additional funding for the training of service members of Ukraine's armed forces.

Funding will be increased by 194 million euros, amounting to 255 million euros in total.

It should be noted that since the beginning of 2022, Britain has trained more than 22,000 Ukrainian soldiers. They received military skills, studied trench warfare techniques and medical training.