SLAVNE, Ukraine — In this village 44 kilometers south of Donetsk in Ukraine’s embattled eastern Donbas, not everyone wants psychological help.
While people do seek out psychologists, “it’s difficult for people to deal with their powerlessness before what is happening.” said Viktoriya Druz, a psychologist at Doctors Without Borders, a non-political NGO (also known as Medecins Sans Frontieres) that provides medical services.
A trauma psychologist, Druz is the only psychologist covering the Ukraine-controlled suburbs of Donetsk. Her potential caseload: Tens of thousands of people, including the 57 inhabitants of Slavne, 617 kilometers southeast of Kyiv.
But as Ukrainian government services no longer work near the gray zone between the areas controlled by Ukraine and Russia, organizations like Doctors Without Borders take on greater importance.
“When we start to work in a given place, rumors abound about us,” said Iryna Sergeyenko, a doctor at the organization. “But there are people here to work with.”
A photo gallery of Slavne is available here.
Nerves
Yelena Alexeyeva is a longtime resident of Slavne, 617 kilometers southeast of Kyiv.
Slavne was occupied by the Ukrainian military until 2016, and remains under govenrment control. It has suffered continuous shelling, leaving its streets in ruins and homes abandoned.
“My nerves are still shot,” said Alexeyeva said, standing outside the mobile clinic.
Druz said that many people she treats are prone to losing composure at unexpected sounds.
That they have trouble sleeping is a given.
Slavne’s population has declined to 57 residents from 230 before Russia launched its war in 2014. Doctors Without Borders started treating the village’s residents in May.
Myriam Berry, the group’s regional director, said that the organization launched its mobile clinic program there after realizing that the city had no direct access to medical care. The mobile clinic includes a doctor, nurse, and psychologist, as well as a set of pharmaceuticals and medical equipment.
“It’s focused on treating the most vulnerable,” she said of the program.
Skeleton crew
But many in the region have come to cope with it.
Mykola Slyusarenko is head doctor at the Krasnohorivka Regional Hospital, which was shelled in May. The shelling, which knocked out a technical floor of the hospital and left part of the building inaccessible, damaged the facility’s outpatient center, the children’s and trauma wards, and a neurological operating room.
Some of the hospital’s services have been temporarily transferred to the nearby town of Kurakhove, out of shelling range and a hub for aid workers in its own right.
With a big gold chain around his neck and a beefy grin, Slyusarenko said that he had long grown accustomed to operating under wartime conditions.
“It was a skeleton crew,” he said, pointing out that the shelling occurred at 6 a. m. on a Sunday. “There were few people here for consultations, so there were almost no injuries.”
The hospital, which has 60 beds, performs general surgery, neurology and family doctor services, providing a crucial source of support for people in Krasnohorivka and the neighboring town.
But consequences of the shelling have rippled through the local community.
“It’s been harder to get access to medicine since that shelling,” said Pavel Grigoryevich, a Krasnohorivka resident.
“A lot of services have had to have been moved away,” Slyusarenko said. “And work on rebuilding hasn’t even yet begun.”
For more information about Doctors Without Borders, go to the website: www.msf.org
