Médecins Sans Frontières - CLIP_INTERNATIONAL_Psycological first aid, Ukraine

Unique Identifier Code / URN MSB164655

Date taken / Date Recorded 19/07/2023 7:12 PM

Country Ukraine

Photographer / videographer / producer Yuliia Trofimova

Copyright MSF

Usage Rights (MSF) Advertising Campaign, External Media, MSF Fundraising, MSF Publications, Social Media

Formal Consent Copy available yes

Editor's rating ★★★ (F)

Video format h264 (Main) (avc1 / 0x31637661)

Duration 2m37s

Maximum Size 3840px × 2160px 418.88 MB

Additional Information / Shotlist
Russian missile strikes across Ukraine continue to cause destruction and loss of life. People’s mental health is taking a toll, especially in cities close to the frontlines such as Dnipro and Zaporizhzhia.

Inna Potapenko
Psychologist at MSF

«This rocket stroke at night, while people were sleeping. It was really terrifying. When we arrived here in the morning, we were taken aback as we saw what had happened. A lot of people were stuck under the rubble. We kept hoping and checking if anyone would be rescued and alive».

Immediately after the strikes, MSF mobile clinic teams were responding on-site to provide psychological first aid.

Oleksandr Shcholokov
MSF Project Medical Referant

«We identify people who are in a difficult psychological state. People react differently, because their psychological state is different. Some people are aggressive, others are depressed. But our specialists are able to find a different approach for everyone».

Inna Potapenko
MSF Psychologist

«The most important thing is to help a person to become responsive, establish contact with them, make it clear that they see you, hear you, that they understand where they are now. We always pay attention to those who sit in silence, because it’s clear to us that this is a state of unresponsiveness from which a person needs to be brought out of».

Psychological first aid in the aftermath of a traumatic event is essential, as both those physical harmed as well as witnesses are impacted.

Lyudmyla Diomina lives near the house that was stuck by the missile

Lyudmila Diomina
Resident of Zaporizhzhia

«I was scared, and I am still scared now. I still don't sleep at night. I don't. I sleep in the corridor, I have a bed in the corridor. I often come to this house and look... . Where am I suppose to go? I'm not going anywhere, I've lived in this house for 70 years. I'm not going anywhere».

Inna Potapenko
Psychologist at MSF
«We are engaged in psychoeducation and tell people not to shy away from it, that it is not at all shameful, when to need psychological support. That it preserves their physical and mental state.»