By Halyna Hergert | 2026-05-18

Viktor Samoylenko was planning a tech startup when Russia started its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. With his friends coming back from defending Kyiv, he saw what a few weeks of war does to a person's mind. That moment changed everything.

Samoylenko and his partners pivoted. The result is Luminify, a virtual reality (VR) platform that puts traumatized veterans and civilians into carefully guided immersive environments to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, insomnia and chronic stress. Rehabilitation centers across Europe and the United States are already integrating the system. Mind Charity, the nonprofit behind it, provides it free of charge to Ukrainians.

"Many of our friends took part in the defense of Kyiv. When they returned, we saw firsthand how just a few weeks of extreme trials impact a person's psychological state," Samoylenko told Kontur.

The scale of need is staggering. Before the war, nearly half of all Ukrainians had never experienced extreme stress, according to the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS). By 2024, 42% of Ukrainians were regularly experiencing prolonged, severe stress -- a threefold increase compared to 2019. Ukraine's Ministry of Health estimates that at least 15 million citizens will require professional psychological help after the war ends.

Building the tool

Samoylenko, an IT expert who had worked in Germany, returned to Ukraine a week before the full-scale invasion. He and his partners had planned to launch a development hub. Instead, they built something else entirely.

The team was composed primarily of IT specialists, not clinicians. Entering the field of clinical psychology meant learning as they went. The central challenge was safety.

"We knew we could create a powerful audiovisual impact. But the main question was: how do we keep it controlled? What scenarios are needed, and how should they address different conditions?" Samoylenko said.

To answer that, the team brought in practicing psychologists and partnered with a specialized clinic near Kyiv. Nearly six months of clinical trials and therapist feedback followed before the platform launched.

The system works with established cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) protocols. A specialist selects footage tailored to the patient's diagnosis and displays it through the headset. Sessions can be individual or group-based.

"As a single psychologist, I can conduct a group session for ten people at once -- simply by using ten headsets," psychologist Dmytro Popko told Kontur.

Breaking the stigma

Popko speaks from experience on both sides of the therapeutic relationship. A veteran of the Avdiivka front, he lost an arm in a mortar attack and developed PTSD himself. When his nervous system failed, he sought professional help.

Many soldiers are not so quick to do the same. For some, a psychological consultation carries more stigma than combat.

"It's a way of overcoming the stigma. When you see a psychologist, you don't just start talking; you have a tangible tool in your hands that you can touch and try out," Popko said.

Soldiers typically respond well to the technology, he added, and it often sparks positive reactions from the very first session.

From clinic to training center

The platform has moved beyond therapy offices. It is now integrated into dozens of public and private rehabilitation centers across Ukraine and has found a role in military training as well.

At the Ukrainian Navy training center, VR started as a tool for 360-degree instructional video. It quickly became something more.

"When we received our first VR headsets, we wondered why we should only use them once during the entire training course," Volodymyr Humeniuk, a public relations officer at the center, told Kontur. The team began looking for broader applications and discovered the mental health component.

New recruits enter training already under strain: separated from family, in an unfamiliar environment, physically pushed and psychologically anxious. Humeniuk said VR helps them stabilize faster.

"Information in this format is retained four times better than through traditional lectures or posters. But most importantly, the individual stabilizes emotionally. They sleep better, experience less stress, and learn more effectively," he said.

The technology also serves as a motivational tool. When a cadet struggles with homesickness, instructors can show them footage of Ukrainian cities destroyed by shelling.

"When someone sees familiar places ruined by shelling, their state of mind shifts. It creates more than just an emotion; it gives them a clear understanding of why they are here," Humeniuk said.

With air raid alerts frequently interrupting training, VR sessions can continue in bomb shelters -- an unplanned but critical advantage. The center now operates dozens of headsets, making the program available to nearly all personnel.

In Ukraine, VR is evolving from a niche therapeutic tool into something larger: a component of national resilience, where psychological preparedness is becoming as essential to security as combat training itself.