Lilia TOVSTOP’IAT continues her professional path at Kharkiv National University of Internal Affairs. She is currently a specialist in the department of social and humanitarian work and national and patriotic education of the department of social and humanitarian work. Despite her young age, Lilia has a difficult life path and combat experience behind her. She is a former military serviceman, a psychologist officer, and a participant in hostilities. When the Russian forces invaded the territory of Ukraine, Lilia was still a student, and her husband, Vladyslav, volunteered for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He was appointed a platoon commander of one of the aviation units, and later served in the 36th Marine Brigade. Lilia also could not stay away from the events and in 2023 came to the TPC from where she was sent to advanced training courses to change her military accounting specialty. After graduating, the girl was supposed to become a psychologist. At this time, Lilia's husband, who was near Novobakhmutovka, stopped contacting her. Later, news came that he had died as a result of artillery shelling.
After graduating, Lilia, by order of the General Staff, was sent to the 24th separate mechanized brigade named after King Danylo to a unit that was at that time in Toretsk and New York in Donetsk direction. Having met the military for the first time at the psychological first aid point, the girl was convinced of the importance and necessity of psychological support for the fighters. “I understood what they were feeling, because I myself knew what loss was,” Lilia recalls. “The guys trusted, made contact, shared their emotions, experiences, and problems.”
The task of a psychologist at the front was to study the psychological state of a person, to help him recover morally and physically - to get enough sleep, rest, forget about the fighting. The psychologist said that at the psychological aid point she was engaged in education with the soldiers, conducted debriefings, art therapy, relaxation, and taught self-regulation techniques. Lilia recalls: “There was a big difference in the outlook of the soldier who had just arrived and who, after a short recovery, was already leaving us. They smiled, joked and felt much better.”
Lilia says that her time in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the experience she gained, helped her overcome her own pain of losing a loved one, despair and hopelessness: “When the soldiers arrived from the positions, I knew that I was helping them, that I was useful. We must always remember that we must support each other and only go to Victory together. "In unity lies our strength, courage, and ability to defeat the enemy."
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