Context
Since the beginning of the full-scale war, the number of veterans in Ukraine has been rapidly increasing. At the same time, public discourse about veterans’ experiences is often limited to two extremes: heroization or stigmatization. Veterans’ stories are frequently reduced to narratives of trauma, loss, or “otherness,” which complicates reintegration into civilian life, contributes to social isolation, and reinforces discriminatory perceptions.
In this context, media play a crucial role in shaping a responsible, unbiased, and humane understanding of veterans—as diverse individuals with their own histories, experiences, and potential for active participation in society.
What Was Done
The media platform Nakypilo created the podcast series Shoulder to Shoulder, centered on conversations with soldiers and veterans of Ukraine’s liberation war.
The podcasts address:
- returning from the front to civilian life, adaptation, and rehabilitation;
- mental health, bodily changes, inclusion, and the prevention of social isolation;
- veterans’ experiences in their own words, without imposed frameworks of heroization or pity.
One episode features Dmytro Kozatskyi (“Orest”), a veteran, public speaker, and project manager working on veterans’ engagement in the defense industry, highlighting veterans’ professional development and civic participation as well.
How It Was Implemented
The series is built around open, non-confrontational conversations in which participants speak in the first person, at their own pace and in their own language.
The editorial team deliberately chose:
- an audio format that creates a sense of a safe space for discussing difficult topics;
- a focus on personal experience without generalizations or stereotypes;
- an approach that allows discussion not only of traumatic events but also of recovery, new social roles, and participation in community life.
Natalia Nekypila, commissioning editor at Radio Nakypilo, explains that the newsroom approaches mental health, bodily changes, and vulnerable veterans’ experiences in line with the outlet’s editorial policy. The key principles include prioritizing human dignity over sensationalism, using non-stigmatizing language, and respecting the personal boundaries of guests. Veterans are never treated as “cases” or generalized figures; their own voices and their right to control their stories remain central.
According to her, the newsroom consciously avoids dramatization, excessive heroization, and pathologization of experience, does not pressure guests emotionally, and considers the psychological safety of the audience, especially when covering PTSD, loss, and adaptation to civilian life. This helps minimize the risk of retraumatization and triggering for listeners.
She also emphasizes the importance of contextualization: veterans’ personal experiences are presented within a broader wartime and social context, including access to rehabilitation, the role of communities, and state responsibility.
“This approach resonated with audiences: listeners and veterans noted the calm tone and the feeling of a safe space where difficult topics could be discussed without retraumatization. Critical feedback also occurred, and we took it into account. The local context of Kharkiv is fundamental for us: the city lives in close proximity to active hostilities, and this shapes the tone of our conversations—careful, restrained, and oriented toward supporting the community. The radio does not merely talk about veterans; it talks with them as members of a community for whom the experience of war is an everyday reality.” — Natalia Nekypila
Impact
The podcast series contributes to changing perceptions of veterans—from seeing them solely as carriers of traumatic experience to recognizing them as diverse and full participants in social life.
The materials:
- help dismantle stereotypes related to bodily changes, mental health, and expectations of the “perfect hero”;
- strengthen public discussion about equality, dignity, respect, and trust;
- provide an example of responsible journalism when working with vulnerable experiences in wartime and postwar contexts.
What Other Media Can Learn From This
- Build conversations with veterans on the basis of equality rather than treating them as a “special category.”
- Allow guests to speak in the first person and at their own pace, without emotional pressure or imposed narratives of heroism or suffering.
- Avoid generalizations and stigmatizing language that automatically links veteran status with mental illness, danger, or social isolation.
- Cover mental health responsibly, distinguishing personal experience from professional medical or psychological information.
- Use formats that reduce confrontation, such as podcasts and long-form conversations that allow careful listening and nuanced discussion.
- Show the diversity of veterans’ experiences, including women veterans, veterans with disabilities, and people of different ages and professions.
- Shift the focus from war as an event to life after war, including work, civic engagement, professional development, and everyday challenges.
- Coordinate sensitive topics with guests and respect their right to decline discussing certain experiences.
- Avoid exploiting visual or audio effects that intensify drama at the expense of human dignity.
- Reflect on the newsroom’s own role in shaping public perceptions of veterans and its responsibility to support inclusion rather than exclusion.
