A Center to Assist War Victims Has Opened in Odesa with EU Support

On September 14, the Odessa City Council’s Center for Psychosocial Support was officially opened in Odessa. It will provide comprehensive assistance to male and female veterans, military personnel, their families, internally displaced persons, people with disabilities, and other community members who have been affected by the war.

This was reported by the Representative Office of the International Solidarity Fund in Ukraine.

The center was established as part of the project “Comprehensive Support for Children, Families, and Communities Affected by the War.” The project is funded by the European Union and implemented by the Representative Office of the International Solidarity Fund in Ukraine as part of the PRO_MentalHealth psychosocial program.

Assistance will be provided by a multidisciplinary team of specialists. Visitors will be able to receive psychological and psychiatric care, psychoeducation, career guidance and information services, physical and sports rehabilitation, and legal assistance.

Services are available both directly at the Center and through the mobile team’s outreach visits.

During the Center’s opening, representatives from the Ukrainian and Polish sides, as well as local authorities, emphasized the need to develop accessible psychosocial support for people who have survived the traumatic experience of war.

“Our task is to build a broad network of infrastructure and bring the necessary services closer to people, particularly to male and female veterans, their children, and their families,” said Ruslan Prykhodko, Ukraine’s Deputy Minister for Veterans’ Affairs.

During the event, memorandums of cooperation were also signed between the Center and the civil society organizations “Free Warriors” and “Alive in Our Hearts,” which represent the families of fallen Ukrainian defenders.

Separately, guests were treated to a photo exhibition titled “Space of Safety: Restoring Childhood.” It is dedicated to children and teenagers from families affected by the war who participated in retreat camps as part of the project.

The Odesa Center has become part of a network of 18 psychosocial support centers in the Rivne, Zhytomyr, Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa, and Poltava regions.

There are currently four such centers operating in the Odesa region—in Odesa, Berezivka, Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi, and the village of Safyany in the Izmail district. As of the end of July 2026, their specialists had provided residents of the region with more than 10,000 services.

Андрій Колісніченко