She has been finding peace in the midst of war and the military since 2014. Larysa Kohut is one of those representing the women’s chaplaincy service of Ukraine.
How her duties have changed since the beginning of the full-scale invasion and why she chose this particular path, Larysa Kohut told Ukraine’s public broadcaster Suspilne.
Before becoming a chaplain, Larysa Kohut was helping orphans, but later she started volunteering in war zones.
“Maybe it started with volunteering. In 2009, our charity fund “Time of Hope ” was opened. We were helping orphanages. And then the war began, and we started helping our military, students of boarding schools in the ATO zone, and people with disabilities. And then I saw that the soldiers are spiritually exhausted. And since I have a master’s degree in theology and I had a lot of experience in pastoral work, that’s why I was invited to the chaplain service.”
“I’m a trained pedagogue in music. For 14 years, I had worked in a Cherkasy gymnasium, teaching music, aesthetics, setting up concerts,” explained the chaplain.
One of her students, Ukrainian star singer Andrii Khlyvniuk, is currently serving with the Armed Forces. The singer’s mother worked for several years at the “Time of Hope” charity fund together with Ms. Larysa, helping collect humanitarian aid.
From February 24, according to Larysa Kohut, volunteers got a “second wind”:
“Before the start of the full-scale invasion, we thought, “Phew, well, we’ll soon be able to get some rest” because the workload on volunteers and chaplains is very high. And when the invasion began, I felt what a “second wind” was, suddenly, it seemed that every cell in your body was switched on. We worked in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, and now we work throughout Ukraine. We’re in constant contact with the guys who were deployed in the front, and we’re waiting for them to return. The guys from the Territorial Defense also reached out to us, they also need help.”
Larysa Kohut said that in 2014, the soldiers were healthier than in 2022.
“They were motivated both in 2014 just as they are now because there is an enemy they are facing. The main motivation: ‘This is my country, this is my land, why are you here? And behind my shoulders are my family, my children, so and I have to defend them.’ Compared to now, in 2014 the guys were a little healthier, while now many of them, for example, have back problems because of the gear they have to carry all the time. The question of long rotations is also acute, but in the conditions of the ongoing war it can’t be any other way.”
“Some would call to say goodbye”: Speaking with soldiers in critical situations
Of the moments when the troops call chaplains just to talk, Larysa Kohut says that this has been a constant practice since 2014:
“When there was the Debaltseve crisis, some fighters would call to say goodbye: ‘We love you very much, we will most likely not be able to make it out of here alive.’ I also know that guys would put in their body armor and helmets children’s drawings and letters,” the chaplain told journalists.
“Military personnel and their families call us to pray. There are situations where contact has been lost with someone, and we pray together with their families, support them.”
