As of February 2025, Ukraine has recorded over 390,000 cases of wounded soldiers, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Many of these defenders return to the front after recovering—some more than once—so the actual number of individuals wounded is lower, but the toll remains staggering. Thousands return home with life-altering injuries that reshape not only their futures, but the lives of their families as well.
Having gone through hospitals, physical rehabilitation programs, and painful adjustments to a new reality, the veterans are also dealing with invisible wounds of psychological trauma, guilt, and disconnection. They come home as heroes, but the war doesn’t automatically go away. It lingers in the silent distance between them and the people they love. For many, reintegration is a battle of its own. Relationships suffer. Connections break. Emotional walls go up. People who once knew how to reach and support each other now feel confused and isolated.
The statistics are sobering: one in three military marriages ends after demobilization, and nearly one in five veterans lives alone. These breakdowns often stem from the emotional trauma of war, combined with the lack of adequate family-centered support. In fact, 70% of surveyed veterans said they need access to rehabilitation with their children and loved ones, and nearly 33% wished for joint psychological programs—yet as of early 2024, only 4.3% had access to them.
Viktoriia Drach, the Nova director in Ukraine, highlighted that this issue is not unique to Ukraine:
“The U.S. has a similar experience—it has its own veterans who’ve returned from war, and families who know just how hard the adjustment back to “normal life” can be. The war currently raging in Ukraine is brutal, it breaks people. This project is a kind of first step. In Ukraine, people aren’t used to talking about their problems or going to therapy. This program shows people how to keep living, how beautiful it is to have a partner by your side, and reminds couples how important it is to value life and each other.”
The Power of Two offers psychological recovery support to both veterans and their partners.
This unique rehabilitation program, created by our partner MARLOG-CADUCEI with support from Nova Ukraine, is designed not only for veterans but also for their loved ones.
Oleksandr, a veteran and Power of Two trauma therapist who’s been through two returns from the front, said it best:
“The soldier comes back changed. But the one waiting at home changed, too. Now the work is to meet each other again.”
Since the launch of the initiative, three cohorts of participants have completed the program, receiving a chance to step away from survival mode and into something radically rare: emotional safety, creativity, and connection.
The journey begins with a careful selection process, where couples are grouped based on their specific challenges and emotional readiness. This ensures each group shares a level of trust and common ground, allowing participants to feel seen, safe, and supported from the start.
The core of the experience is an eight-day retreat during which a cohort of ten couples gathers in a peaceful nature reserve in Western Ukraine. Each day starts with physical recovery like morning movement, swimming, therapeutic treatments, or nature walks. Couples then engage in individual and joint therapy sessions, followed by afternoon group activities like art therapy, guided discussions, and trauma-informed workshops.
After the retreat, the program continues with three weeks of follow-up support, including group calls, counseling, and optional art therapy. This ongoing care helps couples apply what they’ve learned and integrate healing into everyday life.
The most impactful part of the program is that it provides more than temporary relief. It equips participants with coping strategies and nervous system regulation tools that help them process emotions, communicate, rebuild relationships, and navigate the challenges of life after the battlefield.
Iryna Smolyar, trauma therapist and one of the lead coaches of the Power of Two project, says:
“We understood that there had to be tools they could learn and use once they return to everyday life and face new challenges. Because here, we’re in greenhouse conditions—conditions that won’t exist when they leave and their batteries start to run low again”
What veterans and their partners say about The Power of Two.
For people whose lives have been completely upended by the brutal reality of war, this project provides a safe space to reconnect with their sense of self and each other and regain hope for the future. Every couple in The Power of Two carries with them not only the scars of war but also the courage to try again.
Program coaches were deeply touched by one of the participants from the first cohort who summed it up with radical honesty:
“I felt like used material. No one needed me. But here, I felt like a human being again. I want to do things for my wife. I want to help my kids with their homework.”
Many participants came hoping simply to rest but found something more.
Vlad, an IT entrepreneur, joined the army to defuse mines in Kyiv and Donetsk. He lost his leg in an explosion in 2023. At the hospital, he met the anesthesiologist who would later become his wife. They joined the retreat together. By the end, he not only felt reconnected, but as a psychology student, he developed a passion for trauma-informed therapy, and got invited to assist with training for the next cohort.
“Our coach said: ‘Being kind starts with not bothering people.’ I started practicing that with my wife. It helped us both.”
Nadiya and Pasha, parents of a five-year-old, came to slow down and make space for each other.
“After the war began, I wasn’t sure if I still mattered to Pasha, if he still needed me. So during the values exercise, it meant a lot to hear that one of Pasha’s values was “Being together.” He had never said that out loud before.”
The program helped her realize that not all wounds come from war—some come from the past, and can still be healed.
Viktor and Lyuba, married for over 30 years, came with physical injuries and deep emotional weariness. Viktor had never trusted psychologists before, but changed his mind during the program.
“I’ve always been strong. But here I learned how to pause when I feel the anger rise. I breathe. I count five things around me. It helps.”
Lyuba added with a smile, “I feel ten years younger. He’s taking me on dates again.”
Ruslana and Volodymyr, together for three decades, called the retreat a blessing.
“We are one heart,” Ruslana said. “This reminded me why I chose him. Why I still do.”
During an art therapy session, one couple who’d been contemplating divorce painted their future together. Their vision included dreams of children. Another couple said this was the first time they’d had more than a day alone together in years.
“It felt like a second honeymoon. No cooking. No chaos. Just us.”
The program doesn’t just center on the veterans. As one partner noted:
“This is the first time someone has seen the person standing beside the soldier.”
That recognition matters. Nataliia Popova, the head of MARLOG and director of The Power of Two, shared a heartfelt story from the closing ceremony of one of the cohorts:
“The cherry on top was a small gift from our partners, members of the NGO Dobrodiya in Action—a joyful, successful couple who have both used wheelchairs since birth. They braided bracelets especially for The Power of Two, each one woven with symbols and meanings developed by our psychologists. As one of the veterans was putting a bracelet on his wife’s hand, she began to cry. She’s what you’d call an iron lady—a schoolteacher, a natural leader who holds everyone together. Her tears caught everyone off guard. ‘It feels like I’m getting married again,’ she said, ‘like I’m receiving a wedding ring.’ And then the whole room erupted—shouting Hirko! Hirko! Everyone started kissing like it was a wedding celebration. Can you imagine?”
These moments of hope don’t erase the trauma, but they offer something just as vital: the possibility of repair, meaning, and connection. A reminder that healing isn’t a solo journey.
What happens when we make space to heal?
There’s something sacred in softening and slowing down. In a world full of urgency and overwhelm, The Power of Two offers couples a chance to reconnect not only with each other but with themselves.
They learn how to calm their nervous systems. How to listen. How to be listened to. They remember they’re not alone. And that’s the power of two: not just surviving, but thriving, together. Because healing doesn’t happen in isolation, it happens in relationships—in gentle eye contact, in a soft embrace, in laughter. In reaching across the table to say, “I still see you.”
You don’t have to be Ukrainian—or a veteran—to understand what’s at stake here. Anyone who’s tried to keep a relationship alive through hardship knows how fragile love can become when stress and trauma go unspoken. The pandemic, political unrest, burnout—we’ve all faced versions of disconnection. We’ve all craved support, clarity, and belonging.
The Power of Two not only helps couples heal, but it also models what healing looks like in a world that often forgets to prioritize emotional repair. It reminds us that support must extend beyond the battlefield. That war breaks more than bodies. And that rebuilding Ukraine must include rebuilding the families who’ve endured the unimaginable.
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