Since January 2020, I have been an intern at the U.S.-Ukraine Foundation. In May 2020, I was offered a permanent position at the Foundation. Today, I am a full-time employee responsible for communication, organisational, and social media strategies. Additionally, I work on a special campaign, “Our Front Page, the World’s Front Page” that aims to promote the news regarding the war in Eastern Ukraine – weekly updates on ceasefire violations, casualties, or other related news – in order to spread awareness of the continued Russian aggression within the borders of Eastern Ukraine and in Crimea. The latest news are always available here.

I plan to incorporate my project idea into the overarching mission of the Foundation. Mental health issues in veterans are often misunderstood. The veterans’ struggle with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is especially individualistic to the extent that it does not have a singular treatment. Therefore, veterans experiencing PTSD, especially in countries currently suffering from ongoing conflicts and lacking adequate mental healthcare, are part of a vulnerable population requiring dire assistance.

I am gravely concerned with this issue, having witnessed before the dismal status of mental healthcare in Ukraine, and being aware of the fact that Ukraine has an active war within its borders for the past seven years.  To address the issues related to veterans in Ukraine and support the US foreign policy goals, I am going to publish an official report that would include information regarding the mental health status of veterans in Ukraine as well as priority recommendations to Congress for 2021. Currently, I work for the U.S.-Ukraine Foundation (USUF), which regularly publishes status updates on the war in Eastern Ukraine. As part of the organization’s efforts, the Friends of Ukraine Network (FOUN),  a non-partisan coalition of former ambassadors, leading policy, and international security professionals, discusses and makes recommendations on numerous issues of mutual concern. Since 2014 (the onset of the war in Eastern Ukraine), USUF regularly convened FOUN in order to address U.S.-Ukraine bilateral relations and the issues related to sanctions, national security, and assistance in all sectors in support of Ukraine. FOUN publishes an annual Priority Recommendations for US Assistance to Ukraine. These Priority Recommendations are then sent to Congress and are often instrumental in formulating foreign policy toward Ukraine. In fact, it was instrumental in securing arms for Ukraine from the US at the onset of the conflict which were crucial in halting further advancements of the Russian forces into Ukrainian sovereign territory.  I intend to list a set of policies in the Priority Recommendations for 2021 specifically related to mental health care assistance to veterans within my report.