During the war, Halib was hit by a blast that occurred on the third floor of a building. Being buried under the debris, his hip, jaw, nose were broken and he was badly injured. He told that his spectacles had melted on his face due to the heat of the blast. The Russian army arrested him and imprisoned him as a prisoner of war. A few months later, in an exchange of prisoners, Halib was released from prison and returned to Ukraine. He said he did not receive proper medical care in captivity. Halib was recovering and during this time ‘Resex’ contacted him.
Idea came in 2018
Halib said, ‘I had a lot of trouble after breaking the hip bone, which took some time to heal. No one talks about sex during this time, so I didn’t want what happened to me to happen to others. With this motivation, I took part in this project. Ivona Kostyana, the founder of the group running this project, told that she first got the idea of doing something like this in 2018 when she read about American soldiers for the first time. But after the Russo-Ukraine war, the start of this project was not at all easy for him.
Criticism received from ex-servicemen and people
The project also faced criticism from ex-servicemen and the general public. When she first asked people about it online, all she had to hear was ‘People are dying and you’re thinking about sex!’ But as soon as he overcame the prejudices and conveyed the purpose of his project to the people, he started getting positive response. Katerina Skorokhod, ReSex’s project manager, said the focus of the project is more on the emotional side than on the physical. “It’s about how you can accept yourself, how you can love yourself and how you can build a relationship with yourself and your partner after these hurts,” she said.
Victims of depression from soldiers to children
Russia Ukraine war has been a year and a half. The attacks by the Russian army have not only damaged roads or buildings, but also deeply affected the hearts and minds of soldiers and common people. Apart from irreparable physical injuries, there are many soldiers who have become victims of depression or mental disorders. His personal life is in ruins after his return from the battlefield. A large number of children have become orphans whose parents have either been killed or have gone missing somewhere in the storm of war. According to UNICEF, 1.5 million children are living with depression, anxiety or mental health problems that will have long-lasting effects on their lives.