Croatian defenders hosted Ukrainian veterans teaching them water sports and mental rehabilitation. This reintegration program lasted from September 17th to September 25th, 2023 at the ‘Veli Jože’ camp in the Croatian city of Savudrija. ‘Reintegration’ means helping Ukrainian veterans return to and adapt to the usual pace of civilian life, in this case through using recreational therapy methods.

The ‘Nemo-Adriatic’ Diving Club for Croatian Military Veterans initiated this reintegration project for Ukrainian defenders and considered it their contribution to the rehabilitation of Ukrainian veterans and Ukraine as a whole. The primary goal of the project is to establish conditions for the highest quality reintegration and rehabilitation of Ukrainian military personnel, and in the future to launch a similar program in Ukraine.

Fifteen participants from Ukraine acquired the necessary knowledge and skills to establish a similar program in Ukraine, with the support of the UNBROKEN foundation and the Lviv City Council, drawing on the experience and guidance of their Croatian counterparts. The Croats have gone through war, a long-lasting rehabilitation process, and reintegration. This term is now a part of our lives and means ‘return of military personnel to normal life, the chance to become a part of peaceful society once again’.

The rehabilitation program involved Ukrainian veterans with disabilities, participants in heavy combat in Mariupol, members of The Azov Assault Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine ‘Azov,’ soldiers who took part in the liberation of Bucha, and other defenders.

“At the invitation of the Mayor of Lviv, in April of this year, we presented the program to the Minister for Ukrainian war veterans Yulia Laputina, the Mayor of Lviv, Andriy Sadovyi, and the UNBROKEN charity foundation. Then, we agreed on the arrival of the first group of Ukrainian veterans to Croatia for high-quality rehabilitation. The Croatian war veterans’ diving center ‘Nemo-Adriatic’ has been involved in the reintegration program for Croatian veterans for over 20 years and has extensive experience in this field. The organizers and instructors have implemented this project on a volunteer basis, with their own funds, involving representatives from special police units, regular police, guard brigades, volunteer battalions, and veterans of Croatia’s war for Independence,” - said Rene Cipovec, the president of ‘Nemo-Adriatic.

The reintegration program consisted of educational, sports, and recreational components, encompassing both theory and practice, including open-sea diving.

“Honestly, I was glad to receive an invitation to participate in this pilot project. It’s comforting to know and feel that our colleagues from Croatia care about us. Here, I gained new knowledge, learned many harrowing and sad stories from my Croatian counterparts, heard about the war in Croatia, how to restore mental health, and overall absorbed the experience of Croatian veterans. So, I sincerely hope that we will soon be able to launch a similar program in Ukraine. I will gladly join it again, but this time as an instructor,” - says Ruslan Pavlovsky, a volunteer from The Azov Assault Brigade, who took part in the toughest battles for Mariupol.

“I believe that the organization of the project was fantastic! From the bottom of my heart, I want to thank the organizers for including us in this pilot program. In Croatia, I met wonderful people, fellow soldiers, so to speak, and discovered new water sports and skills. Before coming to Croatia, I couldn’t swim, but now I’m diving, despite losing my arm and leg,” - said Mykhailo Yurchuk, a sergeant from the 95th Brigade, which fought in Izium, where he had been wounded and later underwent amputations.

On the Ukrainian side, the project is represented by the UNBROKEN charity foundation and the Lviv City Council, which actively supports rehabilitation programs, including the installation of bionic prostheses for veterans with amputations, and is involved in a range of reintegration programs.

“The UNBROKEN charity foundation is aimed at the rehabilitation, reintegration, and treatment of Ukrainians. The foundation assists individuals who have suffered from the war, former military personnel who have no restrictions on traveling abroad and participating in rehabilitation programs like those that were offered in Croatia. Most importantly, our veterans enjoyed the experience and found common ground with their Croatian counterparts. Everyone got only positive impressions, and they are all inspired, now thinking about how to implement their experience to Ukraine,” - says Oleksandr Kobzarev, Executive Director of the UNBROKEN foundation and a military territorial defense member from Lviv, who spent 10 months on the frontlines during the war.

The program included water sports activities where participants learned the theory and basic techniques of diving, familiarize themselves with diving equipment, and underwent a practical diving course. With the guidance of instructors, they also explored kayaking, stand-up paddleboarding, jet skis, engaged in therapeutic horseback riding, and had valuable communication with Croatian veterans, absorbing their rehabilitation experiences.

The head of the educational part of the program, Andrea Vedrina from the ‘Plava Promocija’ organization, explained to Ukrainian veterans the importance and priority of establishing veterans’ associations in Ukraine during wartime. Speakers from the Croatian War Veterans Association for Independence and representatives of the ‘Jedro I krilo’ organization shared their own experiences and discussed what activities veterans can engage in upon their return home. Croatian veterans, who are the founders of Scubalife.com, talked about the peculiarities of developing periodical publications and suggested that Ukrainians consider creating their own magazine on topics of interest.

Psychologists from Ukraine and Croatia also joined the program. They met a military psychologist Zoran Komar, who emphasized the necessity of conducting ongoing reintegration programs and the importance of support for these projects from government institutions, communities, and families.

The program concluded with participants taking an exam and completing a qualifying dive at the ‘Marko Polo’ diving center in the city of Rijeka, where they received their diving certifications. Additionally, veterans took an exam at the Port Authority of Rijeka and obtained licenses allowing them to operate speedboats.

The implementation of such a support and rehabilitation project became possible thanks to contributions from Croatian entrepreneurs, ‘HONDA MARINE Croatia’ (Fred Bobek d.o.o.), the hunting society of Umag, members of the ‘Nemo-Adriatic’ Diving Club, financial assistance from Filip Vishić, and many others who demonstrated awareness and a willingness to volunteer in the project to help Ukrainians in their fight for their lives, the existence of Ukraine, the security, and stability of Europe, including Croatia.

The ‘Nemo-Adriatic’ Diving Club for Croatian War Veterans is conducting the psychosocial reintegration program for Ukrainian veterans in collaboration with the project partner ‘Plava Promocija’ and participants from the Croatian War Veterans Association for Independence, the ‘Jedro i krilo’ organization, the periodical publication Scubalife.com, with support from the city of Lviv and the UNBROKEN foundation.

Photographs for the project were taken by the renowned Croatian underwater photographer Marjan Radović and the ‘Plava Promocija’ organization.