Addressing the Hidden Tragedy: Ukraine's Soldiers and the Stigma of Suicide

Fri Dec 19 2025 10:43:27 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

A heart-wrenching exploration into the stories of Ukrainian soldiers who have taken their own lives, their families’ struggles, and the societal stigma surrounding such losses.

As Ukraine mourns thousands lost in battle, a crucial but silent crisis unfolds: the deaths of soldiers by suicide. This article shares the painful stories of grieving families, like Kateryna and Mariyana, who navigate through stigma and the lack of official recognition for their loved ones' mental health struggles and tragic endings. The piece highlights the call for change in how suicides are perceived and treated in the military context, reflecting broader societal issues in Ukraine.

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 Katernya finds hard to believe. Kateryna 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, his mother says.

But in 2023, a recruitment patrol stopped him in the street. His eyesight was re-evaluated and he was deemed fit to fight. Not long after, he was sent to the front as a communications specialist.

While Ukraine collectively mourns the loss of more than 45,000 soldiers who have died since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, a quieter tragedy unfolds in the shadows.

There are no official statistics surrounding suicide among soldiers. Officials describe them as isolated incidents. Yet human rights advocates and bereaved families believe they may be in the hundreds.

Once deployed near Chasiv Yar in Donetsk, Orest became increasingly withdrawn and depressed, Kateryna recalls. She still writes letters to her son every day - 650 and counting - her grief made worse by how Ukraine classifies suicide as a non-combat loss. Families of those who take their own lives receive no compensation, no military honours and no public recognition.

For Mariyana from Kyiv, the story is heartbreakingly similar. Her husband Anatoliy volunteered to fight in 2022. After losing part of his arm, Anatoliy was sent to hospital. One evening, after a phone call with his wife, he took his own life in the hospital yard.

Because Anatoliy died by suicide, officials denied him a military burial. When he stood on the front line, he was useful. But now he's not a hero? Mariyana feels betrayed: The state threw me to the roadside. I gave them my husband, and they left me alone with nothing.

Many families like Kateryna's and Mariyana's are fighting not only their grief but the stigma that comes along with it. They are pushing for change, hoping that the sacrifices of their loved ones will be recognized equally, regardless of the circumstances of their deaths.

Oksana Borkun runs a support community for military widows, stressing that many face silent suffering and stigma. If it's suicide, then he's not a hero - that's what people think, she explains.

Ukraine's Commissioner for Veterans' Rights, Olha Reshetylova, acknowledges that not enough is being done to address this crisis, as systemic reforms are necessary to support the mental health of soldiers.