Solutions from Ukraine: new center in Lviv to aid tortured Ukrainians from Russian war crimes

A new center is being built within the UNBROKEN ecosystem to provide aid to Ukrainians who have suffered torture from Russian war crimes. The center's reconstruction has already begun, and specialized professionals will undergo training to incorporate various therapeutic techniques.

The Lviv City Council reported this.

What is the problem?

The Russians are illegally detaining and torturing thousands of Ukrainian civilians. Only around four thousand individuals who were tortured during the war have been officially reported, according to Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin in December 2023.

"As of today, it is officially known about 3,800 civilians who suffered torture at the hands of the occupiers. However, the full figures may be much higher. Currently, more than 1,100 criminal proceedings are being investigated for torture. More than 80 people have been notified of suspicion, of which 18 have already been convicted," he wrote.

What is the solution?

In Lviv,  the UNBROKEN ecosystem is creating a Center to assist Ukrainian individuals who have been tortured due to Russian war crimes. As a result, the project team is also offering a range of other aid to victims of the war, including medical treatment, prosthetics, physical and psychological rehabilitation, housing, and reintegration.

"This will be a separate unit with a separate specificity and specially trained people. There will be various innovative practices, art therapy, drawing, and communication. The conditions here will be no different from those in a good apartment – nothing here will resemble a hospital, which is very important," the mayor of Lviv, Andrii Sadovy, says.

How does it work?

Reconstruction of the buildings of the Center for Assistance to Ukrainians Tortured by Russian War Crimes began in May of this year. The center will have about 30 beds in total and a territory of 1100 square meters. Both inpatient and outpatient treatment will be possible.

"The center will have a team of specialists who will undergo special training to help survivors of the moral trauma of war, captivity, and torture. A treatment protocol will be used that will combine psychodynamic, behavioral, body-oriented, and art therapy approaches to psychotherapy," the head of the psychological rehabilitation department of UNBROKEN, Oleh Bereziuk, says.

^{Visualization of the future Center for Assistance to Ukrainians who were tortured as a result of Russian war crimes. Photo: Lviv City Council}

Help in this center will be provided to both civilians and military personnel who have experienced the moral trauma of war, the trauma of captivity, or suffered torture. For this purpose, psychiatrists, psychotherapists, psychologists, and art therapists will work in the new center.

"We educate and train specialists in cooperation with leading institutions that deal with the treatment and psychological rehabilitation of persons who have survived the moral trauma of war, captivity, and torture," Oleh Bereziuk says.

The Government of Flanders, one of Belgium's regions, is fully funding the construction of this center. This was made possible when Bart Somers, then Minister of Regional Development for the Government of Flanders, visited the Lviv Urban Forum. After learning about the UNBROKEN ecosystem, he played a crucial role in allocating 1.5 million euros for the center's construction.

"It is an honor for me to be here today, and this is my fifth trip to Lviv. I am glad that our government has financed this project. Because the struggle of Ukraine is also our struggle. If we cannot provide you with military support, we can take care of military personnel who protect your country and take care of their health and mental state," he said during one of his last visits to Lviv.

^{Former Minister of Regional Development of the Government of Flanders Bart Somers. Photo: Lviv City Council}

For reference:

The National Rehabilitation Center is at the heart of the UNBROKEN ecosystem. It works based on the First Medical Association of Lviv, which includes two adult hospitals and one children's hospital.

Since the start of the full-scale invasion, the rehabilitation center has treated more than 18,000 wounded soldiers and civilians, including 2,000 children. Among the directions of the Center's work are reconstructive surgery, orthopedics, and prosthetics.

It should be noted that a free educational project for military personnel, veterans, and their relatives was opened in Lviv.

It was also reported that a new Superhuman Center reconstructive surgery school building was opened in Lviv.