health
February 24, 2026
I went to a place deep in the forest where Ukraine’s wounded soldiers go to heal. This is what they told me
A former Soviet military facility offers an unlikely respite – before its patients return, too quickly, to the frontline
TL;DR
- Forest Glade, a secret Soviet-era sanatorium, now serves as a mental health rehabilitation hospital for Ukrainian soldiers.
- The facility offers a holistic approach, combining medical, psychological, physical, and social support to treat conditions like PTSD, stress disorders, depression, and anxiety.
- Unconventional therapies include tango, yoga, archery, gardening, caring for ponies, and staged medieval combat (buhurt) to help soldiers process trauma.
- Soldiers typically undergo a three-week treatment program before returning to the front lines.
- Activities like archery and tending to plants are used to help soldiers reclaim attention and practice patience, counteracting the constant threat perception from war.
- The rehabilitation process is described as provisional, with the short treatment window posing a significant challenge against cumulative trauma, dictated by the ongoing war.
- Excursions to karting tracks, ski slopes, and climbing walls are utilized as controlled re-entry into environments requiring focus.
- The predictability and structured schedule at Forest Glade are therapeutic, contrasting with the constant unpredictability of war.
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