Stories of Ukrainian Veterans Featured in the French Magazine Le Courrier

In our work, it is deeply important to see how the stories we engage with every day begin to resonate beyond our immediate context.

Stories of our participants have been published in the French magazine Le Courrier (by journalist Kristen Anger).

This piece is about life after the front line. About returning home. About difficult, imperfect, yet honest paths of recovery.

The article features the stories of Volodymyr Tsytrak travjen.ua, Vitalii Budenchuk, as well as a commentary by the President of our Foundation, Olena Tanasiichuk.

Volodymyr Tsytrak reflects on returning from service:
“I was home, I had projects, but I had no energy. It took me a year to understand that I was depressed. I constantly felt guilty for being here — alive and safe.”

Vitalii Budenchuk speaks about how the experience of war does not disappear:
“There is no pill that can make us forget everything. The images of war do not fade.”
And at the same time — about the choice to move forward:
“I rise — and I want to lift others.”

Civilian life does not necessarily mean peaceful life. Many return wounded and live with PTSD. Communication becomes difficult, and some withdraw into themselves.

For us, these are not just stories from a publication. These are people we continue working with — beyond training, beyond grants, beyond their first steps.

Vitalii and Volodymyr were also participants of our Veterans Future Forum: Work. Business. Communities — the first platform of the veteran economy. There, they were not only subjects of a story, but individuals sharing their experience, building their businesses, and supporting others.