The day before, Lviv hosted the New Reality conference: Mission: Back In Tech to discuss the algorithm of returning defenders who can no longer continue their military service to their civilian specialties.
The event was attended by representatives of IT companies, specialists from the UNBROKEN Center, and veterans who have gone through severe injuries, captivity, treatment, rehabilitation, and socialization.
One of the keynote speakers at the conference was Mariana Mamonova, an Azovstal defender and military medic whose story has spread around the world. During the battle for Mariupol, the captain of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Medical Service was already pregnant. She spent half a year in Russian captivity and was released only a few days before giving birth to her daughter.
“The hardest thing after captivity is socialization. It’s a very complicated process that needs to be constantly fought against. The first difficulties arise with the family. It’s just a fiasco, a catastrophe,” says Mariana Mamonova about her adaptation after the release.
It is equally difficult, she says, to re-enter society after the experience and return to civilian life, environment and work.
That is why, according to certain conference participants, employers should return veterans to work gradually and prepare their teams for their return. It is not only the veterans themselves who need to adapt, but also society and business, with all the awareness of modern realities and the large number of veterans in the future.
Also during the conference, representatives of Lviv IT Cluster member companies shared their experience and challenges they have already faced when returning their employees from the military to their previous jobs. Together with other invited speakers and experts, they discussed the necessary changes in the work of companies and at the state level to enable veterans to return to civilian jobs without harming their mental health.
The conference was organized by the Lviv IT Cluster together with the Mental Health Center of the First Medical Association of Lviv as part of the Mission: Back In Tech project of the Victory Projects initiative.