MoD establishes a comprehensive system to safeguard the mental health of service members
By Order No. 668/nm, dated October 8, 2025, the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine approved the Fundamental Principles for Safeguarding the Mental Health of Service Members within the Ministry of Defence system and the Operational Plan for Their Implementation for 2025–2027.
The adoption of this document marks an essential step towards establishing a comprehensive system to safeguard the mental health of Ukraine’s defenders, in line with international standards and mindful of the challenges of wartime.
The implementation of the Fundamental Principles through 2030 envisions the achievement of four strategic goals:
1. Establishing a unified system for mental health support
- Staffing psychological support structures with qualified specialists – at least 50% of positions are to be filled by the end of 2026 and 70% by the end of 2027, with military psychologists holding appropriate qualifications.
- Establishing mental health recovery departments (offices) within healthcare facilities of the Ministry of Defence system to ensure access to specialized assistance.
- Launching a crisis psychological assistance chat and an online support platform within the Army+ app by the end of 2026.
- Engaging civilian psychologists – establishing a Register of Certified Civilian Professionals Providing Psychological Assistance to expand access to quality services.
- Reintegration of released prisoners of war – ensuring the effective implementation of recovery (post-isolation and reintegration) measures for service members released from captivity.
2. Developing a system for training and supporting military psychologists
- Increasing the state quota for training military psychologists by 25% in 2026.
- Training according to international standards – conducting EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) courses for 50 specialists with NATO support.
- Providing training for supervisors responsible for professional support and advanced qualification courses for military psychologists.
- Additional training for military doctors under the World Health Organization’s mhGAP (Mental Health Gap Action Programme) for interventions on mental health disorders at the primary care level.
- Introducing new positions – establishing psychotherapist and clinical psychologist roles within the Ministry of Defence healthcare system.
3. Preventing mental health disorders
- Developing an interagency program for suicide prevention among service members and veterans.
- Training instructors in suicide prevention using the ‘Gatekeeper Training’ methodology
- Launching an online training course on peer support in the Army+ app by 2026 to help service members cope with difficult life situations.
- Strengthening psychological resilience – developing and implementing training programs for instructors of psychological resilience training.
- Early detection of disorders – developing a guideline for identifying mental health disorders among service members and providing them with timely assistance.
4. Scientific and methodological support and monitoring
- Developing new methodologies for assessing the quality of psychological services and the socio-psychological climate within military units.
- Updating the protocols for providing psychological support to service members, aligning these protocols with NATO standards and evidence-based practices.
The Fundamental Principles will be implemented in two phases: 2025–2027 and 2028–2030. Funding will be provided from the state budget under the programs of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, with the involvement of international technical assistance.
The document was developed by the Department for Psychological Support pursuant to the Law of Ukraine ‘On the Mental Health System in Ukraine’ and in line with NATO standards.