Some but Not All of 700,000 Russians who've Fought in Ukraine Will Display Aggression on Returning Home, St. Petersburg Psychiatrist Says

 Paul Goble

    Staunton, Mar. 5 -- Approximately 700,000 Russians have fought in Putin's war in Ukraine (rbc.ru/politics/14/06/2024/666c77789a79475d712a5c27), almost 100,000 more than fought in Afghanistan between 1979 and 1989 (hro.org/editions/karta/nr24-25/victim.htm). And the way the Afgantsy behaved on returning home is speaking fears about how the Ukraintsy will. 

    Andrey Kamenyushkin, a St. Petersburg clinical psychiatrist, says that there are compelling reasons for such fears; but he suggests that they should not be over blown because many veteran returning now or in the future won't behave aggressively either because they do not suffer from PTSD or because they will  receive treatment (paperpaper.ru/posle-okonchaniya-vojny-v-peterburg-ver/).

    That does not mean, he argues, in the course of an interview on the Bumaga portal that there won't be serious problems: the numbers involved are so large and increasing that even if only a small percentage engage in violence, that will threaten the social order. But more is being done to help them, and so the threat may not prove to be as serious as it was with the Afgantsy.

    In the course of his interview, Kamenyushkin makes five major points:

First, only 16 to 20 percent of the veterans of the current war in Ukraine suffer from PTSD.

Second, PTSD does not always lead to violence against others.

Third, more is being done to help these people although there are many problems with such services and veterans do slip through the cracks.

Fourth, many military people don't get the treatment they need because they consider psychiatric help a manifestation of weakness.

And fifth, veterans suffering from PTSD are a danger in their first instance to themselves either because they will turn to drug and alcohol or because they will commit suicide.