The story of Andrei Avramenko; Photo by Seth Herald
Lviv, Ukraine – Childbirth has become an act of bravery in Ukraine.
The country is in the third month of a massive war since Russia’s February 24 invasion, which led to More than 12 million people From their homes. Nearly 3,500 civilians Killed. The Russian military has targeted public facilities and even carried them out Air attack in the maternity ward In the city of Mariupol.
But life goes on. From February 24 to May 3, the Ukrainian Ministry of Justice registered nearly 36,500 newborns. Some pregnant Ukrainian women went abroad, so some Ukrainians saw the world for the first time outside their parents ’homeland.
Others remain in Ukraine and despite the tragedy, Mother’s Day is celebrated here.
“For every mother, now and always, the most important thing is her child,” Marina, a 26-year-old cosmetologist, told HuffPost. “I’m always told I have no right to think because I’m holding a baby and someone felt everything in me.”
Merina lived in Lviv, western Ukraine, with her husband, a policeman, but before the invasion she returned to her hometown of Velika Dimerka, near Kiev. She would have given birth there so that her husband’s parents and grandparents could help her newborn second child.
Although Russia launched a hybrid war against Ukraine in 2014, for many it is a distant reality. Hardly anyone expected what would happen next. On the eve of the invasion, Merina and her daughter-in-law joked about the possibility of a full-blown war: “No, it can’t happen in 2022, it’s the 21st century!”
Merina then woke up at 5 am with explosions.
His wife, who still works in Lviv, told him to hurry west. Facing the patrol station clock lines and passing dangerous neighborhoods, pregnant Merina and her parents took 37 hours to get to Lviv, a journey that typically takes about six hours.
Lviv is not necessarily safe. The western Ukrainian city has become an important refuge for people fleeing the war, but it is now a completely safe place in Ukraine. The city has been bombed four times so far.
Marina found reasons to hope. Her second child Mia was born on March 22, a month before giving birth and she was gaining a lot of weight. Mia is “super special,” Marina said. When the birth began, she asked her parents and son -in -law to go to Lviv from their village, which was already under Russian control. They were able to get out, as well as his grandparents.
It could have saved their lives. The massacre began around Kiev after Marina’s family left. Grandma was even diagnosed with a pre-stroke condition that was difficult to treat during work.
So for Marina, Mia is the real savior of the family.
Her eldest daughter is now three years old. To protect him, Marina did not tell him the whole truth about the war. But the child knows that there is a war in Ukraine and he understands what air strikes mean. Hearing the national anthem on TV, he ran to the TV and sang while his hand was on his heart. He knows that “Russians are bad” and follows them into their children’s games.
“Even if you’re scared, you have to collect and show that everything is in order,” Marina said.
In her native village near Kiev, the occupants of Marina’s house moved in and brought the mattress and pillows to the basement, where they built a shelter. When Ukrainian troops liberated the Kiev region, Marina’s father -in -law returned to their village and found that the house was in disarray, with broken televisions and stolen equipment. If the Russians saw any sign that Marina’s husband was a policeman, they probably burned down the house, he said. Fortunately, her parents kept everything safe.
The war also affected many other families.
This can also be seen in the names of the babies: they have two children, a boy and a girl. Reportedly named Ian Javelin and Javelina, respectively, after the Javelin portable anti-tank missile system made in America became a symbol of the United States resistance. Ukraine against Russia.
Julia, 38, arrived in Lviv from Kiev two weeks after the fighting began. At first he and his wife moved into their seasonal home (Dacia) near Kiev. But staying there is dangerous, especially if she’s about to give birth, or there’s another emergency during the curfew where everyone outside can be considered saboteurs.
So the couple arrived in Lviv, where Julia gave birth on April 7th In the Lviv regional clinic.
Halina, 36, also visited the maternity ward of the Lviv Regional Clinic and gently observed her third child. Two and a half years ago her son died in a car accident. The second child has cerebral palsy. This woman was born prematurely, but she is healthy.
“Hearing the word‘ mother ’is the most important thing in life,” Halina said.
Source: Huffpost
