Beyond Conflict event with filmmaker Jay Buckley: the psychological cost of war

September 2026

Beyond Conflict and St Botolph’s Church, without Bishopsgate, London, held “An Evening with Journalist and Documentary Filmmaker Jay J.C. Buckley” in September 2026 which threw a spotlight on what it is like for ordinary civilians living with years of war trauma. Hatty McCormick, BC’s Social Media Coordinator, reports:

The evening comprised a screening of Jay’s latest documentary Voices from the Front, followed by an interview and audience Q&A moderated by Maria Botcharova, the British-Ukrainian writer and Co-Director of the non-profit Medical Life Lines Ukraine. The evening was introduced by the charity’s Chair, Gillian Dare, and was attended by supporters, volunteers and members of the public

Jay is a British war reporter, journalist, writer and documentary maker based between Spain and Ukraine. He had not visited Ukraine before 2022 and has since travelled there more than fifteen times, staying for around a month on each occasion. The dedication in his book Beyond the Rubble is to five people he describes as his Ukrainian family.

After the event Jay said:

“For me it was truly an honour to present alongside you all. The event was very special. The work Beyond Conflict is doing is incredible. For the new documentary I’d be happy to include a link for people to donate. I’ll be going back on the ground soon. There is a WhatsApp Channel for my daily updates from the ground.”

Gillian Dare said on the evening in opening remarks:

“We are privileged to have  Jay Buckley…with us here tonight to talk about his film and experiences. Since 2022, Jay has worked on the ground in Ukraine documenting the lives and courage of a people whose medical & emergency workers, civilians from all walks of life, teachers, children and adolescents. Their hopes and aspirations for the future have been destroyed.”

Beyond Conflict Co-Founder/Director said: “Thank you Jay for your courageous coverage of this war and its mental health impact. Thank you to Maria for your skilful and compassionate interviewing. This event shone a powerful spotlight on the invisible war being waged upon the mental health of the people of Ukraine, whose lives have been shattered by war. We are particularly grateful to Father David Armstrong and everyone at St Botolph’s for making this event possible.”

St Botolph’s has supported BC’s work in recent years, making Beyond Conflict its Christmas charity for 2024 and 2025, supporting our projects in Ukraine and Gaza.

You can keep tabs on Jay’s work via his live Whatsapp link: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VbDhp53C1Fu5OsvX8f3C

The psychological cost of war

Jay is 24 and was 20 when he first went to Ukraine in April 2022, travelling to the town of Bucha shortly after the town was liberated, scene of some of Russia’s worst atrocities when it first invaded. His films and writing focus on the psychological cost of war for soldiers, medics and civilians. Mental health concerns have been a part of his own life.

Jay introduced his film. It follows the experience of soldiers, medics and civilians in Ukraine, drawing on five years of reporting in which he embedded with frontline units, as well as civilian medics into shelled cities. He spent time with families living under sustained pressure.

The mental health crisis in Ukraine is not just a consequence of the war’s opening phase, but a crisis that is ongoing and worsening. Four years after the full-scale invasion, an estimated 1.5 million children in Ukraine need psychological support today and are at risk of depression, anxiety and PTSD, largely as a consequence of the conflict, according to UNICEF.

As the fighting continues and long-range strikes reach further from the frontline, the psychological strain is intensifying. Jay’s documentary Voices from the Front records this moment as it is being lived, and the discussion it prompted at our event made clear that demand for mental health support in Ukraine is present, growing and unlikely to fall away.

The evening was moderated by Maria Botcharova, who said after the event:

“Before 2022, Jay had never been to Ukraine and like many of the rest of us had barely even heard of it. Yet the dedication in his newly published book, “Beyond the Rubble” is to five people – his Ukrainian family. He’s now been to the country more than fifteen times, staying for around a month every time. He’s been to some of the most dangerous places near the frontline, some of which are now under occupation and he’s about to return to make his next film.

“It was an honour to interview Jay for Beyond Conflict after the screening of his film “Voices of the Front” at St Botolph’s without Bishopsgate. The first thing that struck me was that for someone with so much experience – of travelling in a war zone, of writing a book, of making several films – Jay is still extremely young. He is 24 and was only 20 when he first went to Ukraine.

“It was particularly significant that this final screening of his film was at Beyond Conflict because mental health has been a part of his life for a long time. His parents died some years ago and he spent a period struggling with the aftermath.

The horrors of Bucha

“He went out to Bucha in April 2022 because he felt a calling and because he wanted to put on record how the victims there were dealing with what they had just experienced. Bucha is a suburb of Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, which at that point, had just been freed from Russian occupation. What remained was a scene of horror. Bodies of murdered civilians were lying in the streets, people had been raped, abused, murdered in basements. There is a famous image of a woman with newly painted shiny, red nails – her hand and wrist visible as lifeless, charred remains. Whenever people ask why Ukraine won’t give up more of its land in order to secure peace, these are the scenes I think of – it’s not just land, it’s the brutal deaths of its people.”

Beyond Conflict has supported Ukrainian civilians and refugees since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 led to the outbreak of this devastating war. We supported a project for disabled youngsters in Lviv under the care of the Ukrainian NGO Dream Workshop, which delivered psychological support to some of the war’s most vulnerable victims. We also supported a music therapy project for frontline workers at the Ukrainian Welcome Centre in London, supervised by the head of music therapy at the Guildhall School of Music. When the war first broke out, Beyond Conflict supported frontline NGOs providing emergency aid at the Polish border to the millions of Ukrainian refugees.

Around 5.7 million Ukrainians have fled the country since war began (UNHCR). In July 2026, the UN said since 24 February 2022, the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR) has verified at least 16,431 civilians were killed, including 803 children, and 48,613 injured, including 2,960 children. Tens of thousands more have been injured.

Donations to Beyond Conflict can be made here:  https://cafdonate.cafonline.org/8696#!/DonationDetails#%2FDonationDetails

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