“The system doesn’t care about your condition”: how to ensure a dignified return for veterans to civilian life

Currently, veterans face many serious problems, from the long and challenging process of passing the military medical board to the non-inclusiveness of society. Negative treatment experiences, long lines at hospitals, the need to prove the veracity of one's injury, and bureaucracy are only a tiny part of what wounded soldiers go through. This often makes veterans think that society is not ready to accept them.

"The written-off material is what severely wounded soldiers call themselves," share the representatives of the team of the Human Rights Center for servicemembers Principle.

The mother of a veteran and a military wife, Olena, note that after being wounded, veterans continue their struggle because often the Military Medical Commission becomes a second war. Veterans are forced to fight for their own dignity and assistance provided by the state.

The attention of society and the protection of the state are points of resistance. However, in practice, veterans are often left alone with problems.

The Principle Human Rights Center for servicemembers, with the support of the Veteran Hub charitable foundation, created a study that shows the path of a veteran from the moment of injury to returning home. The authors emphasize that the product can become a road map for government agencies — where to start to ease the path of veterans and not leave them alone in the complicated recovery process.

Through real people's stories, the study vividly represents all the problems veterans face. First of all, the fact that for veterans, the war does not end after returning home. They do not fully integrate into civilian life and continue to live in the war and feel more like soldiers than civilians.

Veterans demobilized only recently still say there is a misunderstanding because military experience radically differs from what happens in civilian life.

"What is it like to load the body in pieces of someone who was next to you a couple of minutes ago? How to inform their family about this? It sucks to wipe the blood and dirt off your hands, especially if it's not your blood. A lot of things are difficult to explain and probably shouldn't be," says serviceman Vadym in a conversation with the study's authors.

Often, this misunderstanding is also reflected in the questions asked by journalists or civilians, in particular, "Did you kill?". Female military personnel generally have to listen to questions like "Where on the front did you wash your hair or do your manicure?" or "Where is your child? Are they safe?". Andriana Arekhta, a veteran and head of the Women's Veterans Movement, shares that she immediately asks her comrades where they get their manicures done at the front, as they are not asked this.

There are also cases when the military can rebuke civilians for not being ready to take up arms. Mykhailo Vershynin, the head of the patrol police in the Donetsk region, adds that this happens because of the exhaustion of military personnel — they need to be replaced in the formation and made clear how much time they will spend in the war.

All military personnel want to feel respected and appreciated by default. However, you should not show this by invading a person's personal space.

"You don't need to run up on the street and hug," says Vershynin.

The best option is the "Thanks to you" gesture. A person can put his palm to their heart, expressing gratitude to the soldiers. Caring is an essential form of gratitude. Everyone can take small steps to get involved in solving existing problems, helping those in need, and spreading important information.

Close people often become a reliable support for seriously wounded fighters. Relatives accompany them at every stage, protect the wounded from problems in every possible way, and attract the attention of doctors, society, and the state.

They must combine support and care for the victim with work and raising children. It happens that wives have to quit their jobs to provide full care for husbands whose condition is critical.

"If it wasn't for the help of relatives, nothing would have happened. The soldiers lie down and are silent, unable to decide everything independently. The system doesn't care what your condition is. The main thing is to fill out the paperwork," says Olena.

After her husband was wounded, she was the one who communicated with doctors and nurses, took on organizational work, and constantly monitored whether her husband received quality treatment.

Veteran Oleh Symoroz says that those who have loved ones are lucky. But those alone will simply be left with all the baggage of problems.

The Ministry of Veterans' Affairs is looking for a solution to this problem. It is implementing the Veteran's Assistant project, the essence of which is to find a person for every wounded military person who will walk the path from injury to return with them and help them adapt to civilian life.

Relatives who, together with wounded service members, walk the long way to the military medical commission emphasize the lack of sufficient information from doctors and the state. They often do not understand why they must go to another city, the difference between prosthetics in Ukraine and abroad, and which institutions and organizations deal with these issues because of the lack of coordination of actions.

The solution is simple — brochures in hospitals, which could get into the hands of those needing them at the right stage. Also, it is the only national platform with all the necessary information, which would follow the instructions and explain each step in an accessible way for the veteran and their relatives (currently, https://turbota.mil.gov.ua/ is such a platform).

The lack of proper communication leads to the victims not knowing their rights, which are granted to them by the legislation. One of these, for example, is the possibility of receiving compensation for non-professional care for individuals from the Ministry of Social Policy. That is, the victim's family can apply for care payments.

One of the crucial directions of veteran policy is to work in communities because a significant part of the military comes from small towns and cities. According to Oksana Kolyada, the NGO Space of Opportunities project director, rural areas need more help than big cities. It is worth cooperating with the authorities and organizing mobile groups on wheels there.

Good communication is what is really important for people in difficult situations.

Sometimes, it is outdated legislation that creates additional obstacles. Everyone from a doctor to a general has regulatory documents that prevent them from acting quickly without obtaining the necessary documents. This is where the long queues and the need to get lots of papers before getting something approved come from. Sometimes, it turns into an absurdity, where military personnel with amputated limbs must prove their disability.

"Everything rests on the order, institution, law. To change it, someone who cares needs to write and push it, and others who care need to vote and change it," says Vershynin.

An equally important step will be to transfer specific bureaucratic processes online because this will significantly simplify the path of veterans.

"When do we talk about special needs? Is getting out of the house a special need of yours or an urgent one?" asks Oleh, a war-affected veteran. He emphasizes that Kyiv is not inclusive and adapted to people with disabilities. People with back injuries and prostheses are very sensitive to any unevenness, and it is difficult for them to move in the capital, which is full of curbs, cobblestones, etc. Oleh himself, moving in a wheelchair, cannot leave his house without help.

Oleh advises starting global changes by monitoring the implementation of SBR (state building regulations), which must meet the requirements of accessibility and implement the policy of inclusiveness in the field of urban planning.

In the Soviet Union, the government tried with all its might to hide people with disabilities, so they sat at home, hardly going out. To prevent a similar situation in independent Ukraine, Ukrainians should think about inclusiveness now.

The soldiers, despite performing their direct official duties, are forced to take care of basic needs as well. Women in the military still receive men's uniforms and underwear. Talks about creating a unified women's uniform began in 2022, and the uniform itself was created in the summer of 2023.

The services of a gynecologist are a separate issue. Female veterans have less access to sanatorium-resort treatment, where there are gynecological referral services, although women often suffer from gynecology issues if they do not have another injury.

"The Women's Veterans Movement and I did research and advocated for the full-scale opening of military-civilian cooperation. This is specified in NATO standards: military-civilian cooperation is established if the country cannot provide military hospitals for women. So that it does not happen, as in my case, when I was prescribed pills during pregnancy that were supposed to cause an abortion, or, as in the case of my fellow female soldiers, when human rights were violated, and reproductive organs were removed. They will never have children again," says Arekhta.

The veteran also adds that sexual harassment in the army is a big problem. Unfortunately, none of the military is imprisoned for the crimes committed. There is no evidentiary and normative basis, and the maximum punishment is a reduction in rank.

"I did my job well. Why do they do their job poorly?" this question worries veterans who have sacrificed health and peaceful life for the common welfare but are constantly faced with incompetence and disorganization. Ukrainians' mission now, as civilians, is to provide them with comfortable conditions for their return and comprehensive support so that they know that they are not alone and that the entire Ukrainian society stands with them.