Psychological support for servicemen

Functions of the Psychological Care and Support Department

Full medical support is a set of criteria by which the level of provision of all necessary assistance to a wounded serviceman can be determined:

Holistic psychological care

A set of interconnected criteria and measures used to evaluate the provision of timely, high-quality, and comprehensive psychological and psychiatric support to service members. This area of work includes emotional support, crisis consultations, and support during recovery and post-injury adaptation, helping preserve mental health, build stress resilience, and ensure service members’ combat readiness before returning to duty.

Psychological support plan development

Our department develops psychological support plans for service members, fighters released from captivity, and their families. This helps not only improve their psychological condition but also identify new learning opportunities, professional growth prospects, and support options at all stages of service. These services are also available to their families.

Learning programs

For active-duty service members: lectures and training sessions aimed at developing an understanding of one’s psycho-emotional condition, building the ability to self-reflect, and recognizing changes in mental and physical health.

For veterans: learning initiatives aimed at supporting adaptation to civilian life.

For families: educational courses designed to build the ability to care for themselves, overcome anxiety, and improve stress resilience and adaptability.

Psychological consultations

Psychological aid for service members and their loved ones is one of the department’s key areas of work. Our partners help address requests of any level of complexity, improving understanding of emotional states, concerns, and reactions to difficult life events. All support for Azov service members and their families is provided free of charge.

Psychological support for family members and children

While waiting for their loved ones, families of service members may experience challenging situations, further complicated by a wide range of difficult emotions. Anxiety, fear, or a sense of desperation may feel never-ending, creating a feeling of “life on hold” and an inability to envision the future or set personal goals. Family members may also encounter communication difficulties, both with their loved ones and with people outside the family circle.

Service members’ children may experience heightened anxiety and learning difficulties. Sometimes signs of regression may appear (children may start fearing the dark or sleeping alone again, sucking their thumb, etc.), or, conversely, they may appear to grow up too quickly in ways that are not age-appropriate.

AZOV.Care provides both individual and group consultations for family members, helping them understand their condition, overcome crises, develop coping strategies, and improve their stress resilience and adaptability.

Various learning programs (lectures, training sessions) are aimed at increasing overall awareness among family members, as well as exploring specific topics in greater depth to help them overcome challenges and difficulties.

Online psychological support

Nowadays, ensuring access to online psychological support is crucial. It allows service members and their families to receive support anytime and anywhere. Online psychological support has become one of the key areas of support for those with limited access to traditional forms of assistance, such as in-person sessions, or for those facing a lack of qualified professionals in their region.

Psychological support for service members, their families, and veterans during wartime is an important part of a system designed to respond quickly to the needs of personnel.

AZOV.Care’s psychological department develops and improves training programs to ensure readiness to respond to challenges arising during military service and after returning to civilian life.

The prospects for future psychological support development include:

Expanding partnerships. Collaboration with non-governmental organizations allows our department to provide service members with best practices and resources. It also involves the exchange of experience with international organizations specializing in psychological support.
Continuous professional development for specialists, NCOs, and commanders. Psychological support for veterans and active-duty service members requires a high level of qualification from involved professionals.For psychologists working within the department, continuous updating of knowledge and skills is critical. To achieve this, we hold training sessions and workshops that allow our specialists to stay informed about the latest practices and approaches to providing psychological assistance.We also ensure continuous training in the basics of psychological care provision, screening skills for assessing service members’ condition, and understanding the situations they may face, for NCOs and commanders who work directly with personnel.
Development of psychoeducational materials for service members, veterans, their families, and partners. The aim is to increase awareness of service members’ psychological conditions and needs, as well as ways to improve their quality of life. This helps preserve emotional stability, strengthen family relationships, and facilitate successful adaptation of service members and veterans to civilian life.
Shaping a positive public image of service members and veterans, raising awareness of their experience, needs, and contributions to society through educational materials, information campaigns, public events, and the sharing of their experiences.

Providing continuous support to released and wounded servicemen to accelerate their recovery

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FAQ

What is the Care Service of the 12th Azov Brigade?

AZOV.Care is a non-governmental organization and part of the Medical Service of the 12th Special Forces Brigade Azov of the National Guard of Ukraine. Its primary function is to provide continuous support and comprehensive care for the brigade’s service members following injury or release from captivity, with an emphasis on long-term recovery, preserving functionality, and returning to active life.

Azov became the first brigade to implement the necessary changes to its organizational structure. It was a matter of principle to logically position the Care Service within the brigade’s organizational framework, which is why it became part of Azov’s Medical Service. This allows us to ensure continuity of care throughout every stage of a service member’s treatment, rehabilitation, recovery, and reintegration. This approach creates a unified care system focused not only on treating trauma, but also on preserving human potential, professional expertise, and service members’ roles in society.

Is AZOV.Care the patronage service of the Azov Brigade?

Unlike patronage services, the 12th Azov Brigade’s Care Service covers a much broader range of support for Azov fighters who have sustained injuries or been released from captivity. Our fighters do not require "patronage"; instead, they need to learn to live independently with their new experiences. The Care Service’s mission is to help fighters focus on their recovery while the AZOV.Care team addresses other challenges and provides support.
For this reason, the unit is more accurately described as a care service rather than a patronage service.

What does AZOV.Care do?

The primary mission of the Care Service is to provide continuous support and comprehensive care for brigade service members who have sustained injuries or been released from captivity. AZOV.Care coordinates treatment and rehabilitation, supports service members’ physical and mental health, provides medical assistance to fighters released from captivity, and helps the brigade’s veterans with readaptation, resocialization, and professional reintegration.

AZOV.Care is a unique system that provides a complete cycle of care for service members — from the moment of injury or release from captivity through functional recovery, return to active life, and reintegration into society. The service brings together medical, psychological, social, and reintegration support within a single care system aimed not only at treating the consequences of trauma, but also at preserving long-term human potential, professional experience, and quality of life.

At the heart of AZOV.Care’s approach is the understanding that fighters with injuries, as well as those released from captivity, need more than fragmented assistance. They require continuous, comprehensive recovery, in which every stage — treatment, rehabilitation, psychological support, training, and adaptation — is part of a unified process focused on restoring functionality and enabling full participation in society.

When and why was AZOV.Care created?

The AZOV.Care service was established in September 2024 in response to a challenge faced by every military during an ongoing war: how to preserve its most valuable asset — its people.

The key catalyst for the establishment of the Care Service was the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 948, "On Certain Matters Relevant to the Introduction of Care Services for Military Personnel, Civil Protection Service Personnel and Officials, Police Officers, and Their Families," adopted on August 20, 2024.

AZOV.Care became the first — and one of the most comprehensive — services of its kind within the National Guard of Ukraine.

Its work began by supporting Azov service members released from Russian captivity on August 24, 2024. Since then, we have continuously expanded the care system, broadened our areas of support, and developed a network of partners to provide service members with assistance at every recovery stage — from treatment and rehabilitation to their return to active life.

Several months after the service was established, the AZOV.Care non-governmental organization was founded to develop partnerships and exploit additional opportunities for the long-term support of service members and former prisoners of war.

We firmly believe that people are not a resource, but the nation's most valuable asset. Supporting service members' recovery is not only about caring for individuals — it is about preserving the strength of the unit, strengthening society's resilience, and securing Ukraine's future.

Who can contact the Care Service of the 12th Azov Brigade?

1. Service members of the 12th Azov Brigade who have sustained injuries or been released from captivity.
Brigade service members can rely on support throughout every stage of treatment, rehabilitation, and recovery. The Care Service helps coordinate medical treatment, rehabilitation, prosthetic care, psychological support, education, and career guidance. We are committed to making the recovery process as effective, systematic, and humane as possible.

2. Active-duty service members of the 12th Azov Brigade.
Active-duty service members can contact the Care Service for support with treatment for physical illnesses, psychological and psychiatric care, rehabilitation, education, leisure activities, and professional development. We strive to ensure our service members have access to high-quality care and support throughout both active service and recovery.

3. Veterans of the 12th Azov Brigade.
We work with educational programs and partner organizations to support our veterans as they transition to civilian life. We provide educational opportunities, retraining, employment assistance, psychological support, and adaptive sports programs. We also place a strong emphasis on veterans' social integration and active participation in civilian society.

4. Families of service members of the 12th Azov Brigade.
Spouses, children, and parents of service members may apply for psychological support, learning assistance, and participation in support groups. We understand how difficult it is to wait for a loved one while coping with the challenges of wartime, and we strive to make that journey less lonely and more supportive.

Comprehensive support for service members of the 12th Azov Brigade throughout their journey from injury or release from captivity to their return to active life.

Psychological Support