Ukrainian Soldiers Are Committing Suicides At A Staggering Rate

Members of the Ukrainian armed forces prepare a weapon at their position located near the town of Horlivka, north of Donetsk, Ukraine, June 6, 2015. REUTERS/Oleksandr Klymenko

Mikhail Klikushin, Observer: Why Are So Many Ukrainian Soldiers Committing Suicide?

The ratio of combat to non-combat fatalities is staggering.

Sooner or later, Ukraine’s war against two Russia-supported separatist regions will be over, Ukrainian Minister for Interior Arsen Avakov writes in Ukrainskaya Pravda. However, he believes the multitude of problems the war created are here to stay.

The “Strategy of the Hybrid Peace” (the title of Avakov’s article alluding to a “hybrid war” that Russia has supposedly been waging against Ukraine) is not going to be easy since the war created a “phenomenon of destruction” in Ukraine—on both individual and societal levels.

Similar to the Vietnam syndrome American soldiers suffered and the Afghan syndrome of Soviet troops, there is a new phenomenon that appeared in his country: a “Ukrainian post-war veteran syndrome.”

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WNU Editor: I am surprised that the Ukrainian Minister for Interior has brought up this crisis in such a public matter  .... like much of what is happening in Ukraine, this topic is taboo in Ukraine. My guess is that the problem is far worse than what they are willing to admit. Hell .... no one even believes the casualty stats anymore .... 2,197 Ukrainian troops have been killed, and around 8,000 have been wounded .... I have been told by family and friends that the real number is far more higher. As for eastern Ukraine .... I would not be surprised if the same suicide epidemic/crisis exists, but there is also the civilian population that has been impacted by this war .... and I am sure that they are suffering the scars from this conflict at a level that is just as bad as the soldiers .... if not worse.