This article contains distressing details and references to suicide. Some of the names have been changed to protect identities.
Kateryna cannot talk about her son, Orest, without tears. Her voice trembles with anger as she explains how she found out the news that he had died on the front line in the eastern Donetsk region of Ukraine in 2023. According to the official investigation by the army, he died by a self-inflicted wound, something Kateryna finds hard to believe. She has asked for her and her late son to remain anonymous due to the stigma that surrounds suicide and mental health in Ukraine.
Orest was a quiet 25-year-old who loved books and dreamed of an academic career. His poor eyesight had made him initially unfit for service at the start of the war; however, in 2023, a recruitment patrol stopped him in the street, and he was deemed fit to fight. Not long after, he was sent to the front as a communications specialist.
While Ukraine mourns the loss of over 45,000 soldiers who have died since Russia’s 2022 invasion, a quieter tragedy unfolds in the shadows: the lack of official statistics on soldier suicides. Human rights advocates believe these incidents could amount to hundreds. Kateryna recalls how her son seemed increasingly withdrawn and depressed after being deployed. With no compensation or recognition for families of suicide victims, she laments the labeling of deaths as the wrong way.
Another mother, Mariyana, shares a similar heart-wrenching story about her husband Anatoliy, who took his own life after serving in one of the most brutal battles of the war. Like Orest, he was denied military honors because of the nature of his death.
Families are fighting back against the stigma. Increased public awareness and systemic reforms are desperately needed to ensure that every soldier, regardless of how they died, is honored and supported. The article reveals the emotional toll and advocacy efforts of families trying to change the stigma surrounding suicide in military contexts, driven by love for their lost ones and a desire for recognition.
