Battle weary Couples feel the strain of wartime separation

When her husband left to help defend Ukraine against Russia’s invasion in 2022, Yulia stayed at home with their toddler. She describes being overcome by a feeling of “numbness”.

- By Peter Beaumont KYIV

Amid a multitude of strains on life in Ukraine after three long years of war, Yulia’s family have managed to survive the pressures, helped by a group that offers war-damaged families supportive counselling. Others have not been so lucky. While there are no official figures, anecdotal evidence points to a growing number of relationship stresses and families that have broken up.

From absence when wives and children have fled abroad, to the enforced separation when service at the front means men might only get home for a short period of leave once a year, there are a variety of factors driving relationship stress.

“It’s really a sensitive issue,” said Natalia Umerenkova, a psychologist at Ukraine’s Institute of Social and Political Psychology who is involved in running the counselling sessions that Yulia attended.

“One of the main things is fatigue. The war in Ukraine has been going on for more than 10 years, including more than three years of all-out war.

“We have a hotline for families who have members in the military and we see requests connected to relationships increasing. It’s not only wives but also men in the military calling, asking for help because they need help with the feeling that their relationship might be ending,” she said.