The article deals with the problem of suicidal behavior in the Ukraine military environment and gives an example of the successful prevention approach. The model of prevention is based on (1) education of the responsible officers, (2) training of the representatives of the most vulnerable risk groups, and (3) follow-up procedures based on distribution of pocket books for soldiers, educational booklets, and sets of helpful materials for officers. One of the main conclusions is that the prevention activity must be organized as a continuum of actions, seminars, consultations, and materials distribution.

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For several decades suicidology could not be discussed in the Ukraine, and so this is one of the first papers on suicide in this country. After a brief discussion of the epidemiology of suicide in the Ukraine, the authors present the results of research investigations on caregivers' knowledge about suicide, as well as an investigation of attitudes towards suicide. The principal conclusions are: 1. The frequency of suicide in the Ukraine is relatively high (24 per 100,000). The rate of suicide is much higher in rural areas than in the cities. The frequency of completed suicide is not the same in different regions of the country. 2. Sociopsychological processes in the post-totalitarian society have resulted in the development of the "Soviet syndrome" in the population. 3. Suicidal behavior in the post-totalitarian society exists in a special social, psychological, and cultural context that creates obstacles for its effective prevention. 4. Research on the level of suicide knowledge revealed a high prevalence of mythical ideas, even in those groups of the population or professional groups that should be directly involved in education and participate in suicide prevention. 5. An assessment of the attitude of the respondents toward suicide revealed an ambivalence of their feelings and attitudes that could have a negative influence on their practical involvement in helping to deal with suicidal clients.

Significant social, political, and economic changes in the countries of the former Soviet Union present a good model for investigation of the impact of environment on suicide mortality during times of transition. During the period of perestroika (1985–1990), when promising social changes were rapid, a significant decrease of suicide mortality was observed for both genders in all fifteen republics of the USSR. One of the factors which contributed to the decrease was the strict anti-alcohol policy implemented in 1985 and suspended by 1989. However, times of spiritual liberation, the aspiration of democracy, social optimism and hopes for higher living standards could also have attributed to the causality of suicide decrease. In the years 1990–1994, after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the suicide rates in post-Soviet countries increased, with the exception of prevailingly Muslim central Asiatic, and the Caucasus countries which have a traditionally low level of suicides. The transitional period called for high adaptation capacity and the necessity of developing suicide-prevention programmes to increase social support and re-education measures.

According to the WHO official data, for the period from 1986 to 1996, there was a dramatic rise in suicide rates in the Ukraine, from 18.47 to 29.43 per 100,000. Since 1997, there has been a steady lowering of suicide rates, and the latest available data, in 2006, is 19.54. per 100,000. Nevertheless, today, the Ukraine remains the country with ‘high’ suicide rates, where suicide in males is almost five times higher than in females, and in rural areas suicide rates are almost twice as high as in the urban environment.