A total of 22 Ukrainian soldiers have found refuge on Mount Athos. Seeking physical and mental peace, the soldiers set off by coach from the Ukrainian city of Lviv and traveled a distance of 1000km to reach Mount Athos in the hope of escaping their haunting memories of the battlefield.

According to a Reuters report, during their 4-day stay, the soldiers with obvious signs of war – some with amputated legs and arms and others with scars on their heads – made a pilgrimage to 12 monasteries. Their visit to Mount Athos was part of a psychological support program organised by the Ukrainian authorities.

“Many soldiers are suffering from the events of the last three years. Many of them are suffering from various illnesses – they are traumatized and we need to rehabilitate them,” said Father Mykhailo Pasirskyi, a Ukrainian Orthodox priest who accompanied the men on their trip.

Ivan Kovalyk, 22, is one of the soldiers who will bear the scars of war on his body for the rest of his life after losing both his legs while on the front line of battle until September 2023.

“Of course it helped a lot because it helped me get rid of the stress,” he said of his visit to Mount Athos, which he plans to repeat.

“When I visited Mount Athos, I felt God’s grace, God’s blessing, God’s greatness,” said for his part Orest Kavetskyi, a Lviv regional official who helped organize the trip.