Ukraine’s veterans. Coming home from a war that isn’t over
Join us for a conversation with veterans and those who work alongside them about how to support Ukraine’s defenders as they return to civilian life, while the war is still going on.
Ukraine already has more than two million veterans, and their number grows every day. There is meant to be a ‘post’ in post-traumatic stress, yet for many Ukrainian veterans the trauma keeps repeating.
Since 2014, Ukrainians and their supporters abroad have developed many ways of helping veterans, from rehabilitation and prosthetics to peer support, creative workshops and policy reform. Our speakers have built and led such initiatives themselves. They will discuss what has worked, what veterans still lack, and how society, in Ukraine and beyond, can help them.
The panel brings together Alina Sarnatska, veteran and writer; Oleksandr Tereshchenko, veteran, former Deputy Minister for Veterans Affairs of Ukraine and founder of the Oleksandr Tereshchenko Charity Foundation; Lee Watson, who leads Fierce Calm, an organisation supporting rehabilitation and recovery after injury in the UK and Ukraine; Erin E. McKee, CEO of Nova Ukraine, sponsor of the London Ukrainian Review issue dedicated to veterans and Jaroslava Barbieri who is a Research Fellow at the Ukraine Forum, Russia and Eurasia Programme. The discussion will be moderated by Larissa Babij, editor of the London Ukrainian Review, and followed by a Q&A.
The evening marks the launch of the new issue of the London Ukrainian Review, dedicated to veterans. Every ticket holder will receive a free copy.
The issue was published with the support of Nova Ukraine, a US-based nonprofit that has provided humanitarian aid to Ukraine since 2014, including rehabilitation, psychosocial care and adaptive sports programmes for veterans. You can support their work here.
