Mariia Shostak, a 25-year-old woman living in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, started having contractions on 24 February, the day the Russian Federation launched a military offensive in Ukraine, and gave birth amid the sounds of air raid sirens.  

She describes the harrowing conditions she endured, bringing a new life into a world of sudden and extreme danger.

“I had a complicated pregnancy, and I went to the maternity hospital early so that the child and I would be under medical supervision.

When I woke up on 24 February, my phone’s screen was full of messages from relatives. Even before reading them, I realized something had happened.

The same morning, I had light contractions and, in the afternoon, we were evacuated to the basement shelter for the first time. It was scary. At night, I did not sleep.

The contractions intensified, and the news did not give peace.

In the early morning of 25 February, a doctor examined me and told me that I would give birth that day. I called my husband at home to come.

A trip that normally takes 20 minutes took almost four hours because of queues at the gas station, shops, and the pharmacy.

I was lucky with the birth – it did not happen in the basement though some women gave birth in a room set up for this purpose.

I started in the delivery room but had to be transferred to the operating room for a Caesarean section. Later, when air raid sirens went off, the medical staff wanted to evacuate me to the basement, but I refused.

Because of the pain, I couldn’t even speak, let alone go anywhere. The rest of the time I was disconnected from the outside world, which was probably the only time I forgot about the war.

Fear, fatigue, and pain

After the operation, I was in intensive care for several hours, no longer on anaesthesia. I was worried because I didn’t know where the baby and my husband were.

Meanwhile, another air raid siren sounded, and I decided to go down to the basement. I was in a disposable shirt, without shoes, in a wheelchair, holding a urinary catheter.

I was covered with a blanket and taken to the shelter, where I first saw my son. We named him Arthur.

I felt fear, fatigue, and pain. The day after surgery, I went up to the maternity ward and back down to the basement several times a day. Again and again, the air raid siren sounded.

I managed to sleep for an hour or two a day. We spent most of the time in the basement sitting in chairs. My back hurt from sitting, and my legs are still swollen as a pregnancy complication.

Exhaustion blunted the fear until a projectile hit a high-rise building we could see from our window. 

My husband, Yurii, helped, taking care of me and the newborn. Medical staff organized meals in the bunker and later provided beds.

They helped put the baby to the breast, shared medicine for babies, held my hand when I had a hard time walking.

I feel safe in the capital – there are enough shelters and timely information is coming from the authorities. My husband arranged a corner for us in the basement of our house to stay.

I was born and raised here in Kyiv, I have no other home. We are not going to leave.”

© Mariia Shostak via UNFPA

 

Ms. Shostak’s husband, Yurii, holds his new son at the hospital. They plan to stay in the basement of their home for now.

This account is based on an article which first appeared on the website of our colleagues at the UN sexual and reproductive health agency, UNFPA.

Mr. Griffiths, together with Catherine Russell, head of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), briefed ambassadors on how the UN and partners are responding to rising needs since the Russian offensive began 11 days ago. 

“People are watching as this unnecessary conflict engulfs cities and civilians. As well as what’s happening in Ukraine, they have an extra sense of dread over the impact this will have on the wider world. I include myself in this category,” he said. 

Lessen the suffering 

Mr. Griffiths, who is also the UN Humanitarian Coordinator, outlined three immediate priorities “to lessen the pain and suffering we are all watching unfold in real time.” 

First, the parties must take constant care to ensure military operations spare civilians, homes and other infrastructure.  Furthermore, people wanting to leave areas of active hostilities must be allowed to do so safely and voluntarily. 

As civilians in places such as Mariupol, Kharkiv and elsewhere under attack, desperately need aid, especially life-saving medical supplies, safe passage for humanitarian supplies is also required. 

His third point highlighted the urgent need for a system of constant communication with the parties to support aid delivery.  He explained that humanitarian notification systems have been implemented in other situations. 

Talking to the sides 

“I have already conveyed these three points to the authorities of Ukraine and to the Russian Federation,” said Mr. Griffiths, who is also the UN Humanitarian Coordinator. 

A team from his office has been sent to Moscow to work on better humanitarian civil-military coordination, which follows a phone call on Friday between UN Secretary-General António Guterres and the country’s Defense Minister, Sergei Shoigu. 

A first technical meeting with Ministry representatives has also been held. 

“I welcome cooperation by both sides and sincerely hope to see further progress in the hours ahead,” said Mr. Griffiths. 

Adapting to the ‘unthinkable’ 

The UN and partners were already in Ukraine prior to the escalation, supporting some 1.5 million people in the Donbas region affected by eight years of fighting between Government forces and pro-Russian separatists. 

In the weeks before the Russian onslaught, they had already started preparing for worse. Mr. Griffiths said that “as the unthinkable became the reality”, they launched a scalable and agile humanitarian operation that could adapt to the changing situation. 

Over the past 11 days, humanitarians have fed hundreds of civilians, with the World Food Programme (WFP) setting up supply chain operations to deliver immediate food and cash assistance to up to five million people inside Ukraine. 

UN health agency WHO has shipped trauma care, emergency surgery equipment and other supplies, with more on the way.  The conflict has so far forced more than 1.7 million people to flee to neighbouring countries, particularly Poland, and the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, is providing support to them.  

Other UN initiatives have included the appointment of a Crisis Coordinator for Ukraine, and the launch last week of two “robust” humanitarian plans to support people in the country and those who have crossed the borders. 

Humanitarian assistance has continued in areas where security permits, Mr. Griffiths told the Council.

“Under the leadership of the Crisis Coordinator, and the Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in country, we have new plans now, of course, on how to deliver where humanitarian needs are most acute,” he said. 

“This includes the cities we have seen so much on these last days such as Mariupol, Kharkiv, and Kherson. Our response is being scaled up from hubs in Vinnutsya, Uzhorod and Lviv.”

‘Moral outrage’  

Ms. Russell from UNICEF reported that the past eight years of conflict had already inflicted profound and lasting harm on the 7.5 million children in Ukraine, and threats have only grown with the current crisis. 

Since the fighting began, at least 27 boys and girls have been killed, and 42 have been injured.  UNICEF expects child casualty numbers, as well as displacement, to increase.  Half of the refugees are children. 

Meanwhile, homes, schools, orphanages, and hospitals have all come under attack, while water and sanitation facilities, and other civilian infrastructure, have been hit, affecting millions.   

“What is happening to children in Ukraine is a moral outrage,” said Ms. Russell, delivering her first Council briefing since being appointed in December. 

“Images of a mother and her two children and a friend lying dead on the street – hit by a mortar as they tried to flee to safety – must shock the conscience of the world.  We must act to protect children from this brutality.” 

‘Terrifying’ ordeal 

Ms. Russell was recently at the Ukraine-Romania border, where she met children and mothers. 

“The children talked about being suddenly pulled out of school, losing beloved toys, and the terrifying sound of shelling and gunfire.   So many children have been deeply traumatized,” she reported. 

Currently, UNICEF has 135 staff in Ukraine, with more being deployed.  Teams supported by the agency are reaching children wherever they can, providing psychosocial care, mental health support, and protection services.  

Other actions include establishing ‘Blue Dot’ hubs at border crossings in countries hosting Ukrainian refugees.  The hubs are a safe space for children and families, providing services such as psychosocial support, basic legal counselling and places to play. 

The brutality must end 

The agency and UNHCR have also called for greater protection for unaccompanied and separated children crossing borders, and for some 100,000 children in Ukraine living in care institutions or boarding schools, half of whom have disabilities. 

While UNICEF “will continue doing everything” to support Ukraine’s children, ” the brutality must end”, Ms. Russell stated.

“Children in Ukraine need help and protection. They need supplies and other critical support. They need access to basic social services like health and education. They need hope for the future. But above all children in Ukraine need peace. It is the only sustainable solution,” she said.