The founders of the national network RECOVERY, Victor and Olena Pinchuk, visited defenders of Ukraine who are recovering from injuries. Developing the largest project aimed at rehabilitating military personnel in Ukraine, the philanthropic couple discussed the urgent needs of soldiers recovering from injuries at the RECOVERY center in Kyiv.
The capital center was one of the first to open in the spring of 2023 within the national RECOVERY network. A year later, the project supporting the Security and Defense Forces has become the most powerful Ukrainian initiative, with 12 centers where 12,000 military personnel have received free medical rehabilitation services. By winter 2024/2025, Victor and Olena Pinchuk plan to expand the network to 18 centers, where 25,000 soldiers can recover annually.
“We know that most of our heroes, after recovery at the network centers, went back to serve, and this is our contribution—mine and my wife’s, all the doctors’, all the centers’—to the common fight. A year after the launch, we can see that the project is developing powerfully in the right direction. Now we are thinking about the next step, what to do next. Before meeting with the military, we had one hypothesis—and today it has been confirmed—that one of the priority directions for the next steps should be psychological rehabilitation,” noted Victor Pinchuk, the founder of the RECOVERY project.
During the visit, the military repeatedly emphasized the importance of qualified personnel in rehabilitation, as they are a driving force for many during recovery. The significance of psychological rehabilitation as a vital aspect of recovery after injuries was also highlighted.
“During such meetings, we have the opportunity to communicate directly with wounded soldiers, hear their stories, and learn about the urgent needs of our heroes. This allows us to better understand various problems to help solve them. Each meeting with our defenders is extremely important to us; it inspires us to continue working on our programs,” summarized Olena Pinchuk, the founder of the RECOVERY project.
Psychological rehabilitation is an integral component of all RECOVERY centers, each of which has multidisciplinary rehabilitation teams, including mental health professionals. Last year, in order to enhance their qualifications, an educational direction called “RECOVERY Sexual Life” was launched within the network for psychologists working with injured Ukrainian soldiers to help them restore their sexual and personal lives.
The educational component is one of the priorities of RECOVERY. As part of educational events, the network pays special attention to the psychological aspects of interaction between doctors and military personnel and their families—ensuring that the time spent at the rehabilitation center is beneficial not only physically but also psychologically.
To date, 2000 doctors have participated in various qualification enhancement events. In 2024, over 80 educational events were announced, including webinars, training sessions, congresses, conferences, and international internships in leading European rehabilitation centers in Latvia, Norway, and Austria.