Since the beginning of 2025, more than 110 thousand people were assisted by the Russian Red Cross Psychosocial Support Service, both in one-on-one counselling sessions with psychologists, hosted by RRC regional branches, and through remote RRC services such as the psychological first aid (PFA) hotline and the Telegram chatbot. These services have become important support tools for those experiencing anxiety, stress, grievance, or interpersonal challenges, helping them to cope with crisis-related emotional stress and find internal resources for recovery.
The ability to choose the most convenient and personally safe mode of communication is what makes RRC psychological support genuinely accessible and inclusive.
Since the year start, the PFA hotline was called more than 24 thousand times. The split between women and men was 82% and 18% respectively. The vast majority of the individuals calling were adults but assistance was also given to 482 children and adolescents. Analysis of telephone requests reveals that in most cases people call when hit by a severe personal crisis such as the passing of a family member, divorce, bulling, or job loss. Request for help in locating people who are missing in the active combat zone remains the second most frequent reason for calling the hotline. In such situations psychologists provide psychological first aid and refer the individual to the Russian Red Cross RFL (Restoring Family Links) Service.
Traditional telephone conversation may not be for everyone. More than half of requests arrived through the psychological support chatbot. For many, especially men and adolescents, the chatbot provides a safe environment for sharing one’s concerns in writing. Since the beginning of 2025 RRC specialists have processed over 25 thousand requests received through the chatbot, most of them concerning adaptation stress and difficulties, problematic relationships, parent-to-child conflicts, depression and anxiety, grieving over dear ones, fears and bulling experiences. Of the chatbot users, 59% are women; 41% of chatbot-posted requests came fr om men. Almost every second chatbot user is a child or adolescent: 44% of total requests were received from minors. For many of them the chat format is becoming a normal way of openly sharing their concerns. In contrast, only 1.2% of those calling the hotline were children, which means that the younger users feel more confident when sharing their emotions in writing.
“An increasing number of people accept psychological care as a natural aspect of their lives. We see how digital solutions work to reduce psychological barriers to help-seeking, expanding the boundaries of trust and making psychological support genuinely accessible to everyone. The development of such services helps building a culture of trust wh ere help is available to anyone who is prepared to make a step forward to encounter one’s own self. We find it essential that every person, regardless of age, sex or life circumstances, can receive professional psychological assistance – anonymously, without fear of judgment, in the format that is most comfortable to them,” pointed out, Maria Mukhina, Executive Director of the Russian Red Cross.
In addition to the online formats, psychological support can be requested fr om RRC regional branches wh ere one-on-one counselling sessions are arranged for anyone to discuss personal emotional responses and be assisted in finding solutions to complex life situations. Sessions of this kind are conducted in a safe and confident atmosphere, which is especially important for those who prefer live, personal interaction with a specialist. Since the beginning of 2025, more than 60 thousand people received one-on-one psychological assistance at regional branches.
Development of psychosocial support remains among the key activities of the Russian Red Cross. Today the PSS Service operates in 72 regional branches with over 1,700 volunteers, including 955 psychosocial support specialists, and 600 volunteer psychologists. To enable timely response to emergencies and provide comprehensive assistance to those in distress, the Russian Red Cross operates a Quick Response Team of 35 specially trained volunteer psychologists from 21 regions of Russia.
One can request assistance daily: the Russian Red Cross chatbot operates from 9 am to 00 am Moscow time (https://t.me/psy_rrc_bot), hotline calls are received from 7 am to 10 pm. Counseling is free and anonymous.
