06/16/2024 – 5:35
Many soldiers returning from the front show signs of post-traumatic stress. The problem could impact Russian society and even future generations, according to experts. Alexander Mamayev’s return to Russia from the battlefront in Ukraine ended in tragedy. During a party, he got drunk and stabbed his wife to death, in front of his children, because he thought she had taken money from his pants pocket. Witnesses who knew the 44-year-old, from Zavolzhye in Russia’s Nizhny Novgorod region, told the court that before the war he was a calm man who “couldn’t harm a fly”.
This is just one example of the crimes that participants in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have committed after returning home, often under the influence of alcohol. This was also the case with Sergeant Stanislaw Ionkin, who in 2023 wanted to celebrate his vacation from the front in a nightclub. As he said, there was an argument, he fired a flare gun and started a fire, which resulted in 13 deaths.
According to the Russian-language portal Verstka, launched abroad in 2022, former fighters from the war in Ukraine committed 190 crimes in two years, including 55 murders. Drunk, they later complained of suffering outbursts of uncontrolled rage. According to psychologists, this is a symptom of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Reports on criminal offenses in Russia show that many of the crimes were committed by former Wagner Group mercenaries.
Russian authorities have launched a program to treat participants in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine who are returning from the front and suffering from PTSD. The demand is so great that not everyone affected can get help. Furthermore, many of these soldiers refuse treatment.
Psychic problems
One of the most common problems reported by military personnel on social media are nightmares and constant flashbacks – traumatic experiences that always come back to mind. For example, they have the sensation of being shot by a firearm, generally in places where there are a lot of people or vehicles.
Others lose their composure when there are fireworks, or are afraid to leave the house without a gun. “In war, you think everything is fine with you. But then he returns to civilian life and realizes how different it is. Over time, he realizes that he has changed inside,” comments a former combatant in the war in Ukraine.
Andrei (name changed), 23, is a Russian mercenary. According to his girlfriend, Svetlana, he has changed a lot in the last two years of war: he used to be talkative and cheerful, but now he is a withdrawn and aggressive man. “A long time ago, when we were talking via video call, he said he was going crazy,” says the young woman. She started talking to Andrei less frequently on the phone, and his responses to her text messages became shorter and shorter.
In 2024, the couple had a baby girl, but Andrei did not visit his wife and daughter during his last vacation. “Once, he wrote nasty things, including about our daughter. I thought our relationship was at an end. But the next day, he apologized via audio message and said he was freaking out” Svetlana.hopes the prospect of becoming a father will help Andrei find stability.
Back to the front
According to a study by the Bekhterev Psychoneurological Research Institute in St. Petersburg, PTSD may develop in 3% to 11% of war veterans. In 2023, Russian authorities announced the creation of rehabilitation centers to address the problem.
According to the Ministry of Health, over the course of six months in 2023, 11,000 Russian soldiers who participated in the war against Ukraine, as well as their family members, sought psychological help. Most of them were men who left the Army for health reasons or relatives of dead soldiers. But Health Minister Mikhail Murashko had to admit that in 2023 only 15% of those affected could receive treatment.
Some soldiers diagnosed with PTSD even had to return to the front lines. This was the case for 25-year-old Alexander Strebkov, drafted into the Army during mobilization. Despite the diagnosis that he should not carry a weapon, he was sent back to the war zone.
Warning about secondary disturbances
In major military conflicts, such as the invasion of Ukraine, the number of psychological disorders among soldiers can be significantly higher than that indicated in the Bekhterev Institute study, says a Russian psychotherapist, requesting anonymity.
So he expects an increase in crimes in Russia that can be attributed to PTSD among soldiers. “It is necessary to bear in mind that some participants in the war, such as those from the Wagner Group, already had a criminal past. Their psyche may have suffered even more as a result of the combat.”
The therapist warns that untreated PTSD can cause secondary disorders, and “there is also dependence on alcohol or psychotropic substances, which causes problems in society”. Families suffer the most, which takes a toll on children’s psyches.
“Illusionary heroization”
The treatment is based on reliving traumatic experiences, says the therapist, who has already counseled veterans of the wars in Chechnya, among others. “This reliving helps patients go through the experience multiple times,” and recovery requires an average of ten sessions over a six-month period.
Some psychologists who treat military personnel with PTSD try to glamorize war experiences. “Although this can be emotional support in therapy, in terms of human values, it can make violence and aggression seen as normal”, warns the therapist. Instead of “illusory heroization”, those affected need help to understand the situation they find themselves in, and feelings of guilt must be worked through.
He cites Germany after World War II as an example: at the time, the term PTSD did not yet exist, nor did treatment, but German society had reconsidered its views. “The main task of therapy is to normalize the patient’s life, so that he understands his mistakes and builds a new life, something everyone has the right to”, says the psychotherapist, speaking anonymously.
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