Amid bombardment, children hunker down at Ukraine's largest pediatric hospital

By Jeyhun Aliyev

KYIV, Ukraine (AA) – As Russia’s shelling and bombardment continues to rain down on the capital Kyiv, some 70% of the patients in Ukraine's largest children’s hospital have been evacuated, but hundreds still remain, an official told Anadolu Agency.

Children who are not transportable have stayed at the National Specialized Children's Hospital Okhmatdyt, with frightened young patients continuing their treatment in the hospital shelter.

Iryna, 38, the mother of Anastasia, a 12-year-old girl who has not able to walk for three years and has been getting special therapy at the hospital, said they have been at the hospital since day one of the 11-day war – in her words, since the day "this all started."

Speaking in the hospital’s basement, where a number of other child patients and their parents rest on a mattress on a hallway floor, Iryna said they spend the whole day now in the shelter, and venture upstairs just to take care of basic needs.

"We came here for physical therapy, antibiotics, and rehabilitation,” said Iryna. “My daughter is scared about going. She’s scared of the situation and doesn’t want to leave (the hospital) and there’s no way anyone can come and pick her up.”

"We’re always here. She’s always here, I go up to get food and to wash up. But, in general, we’re constantly here," she added.

When we asked Anastasia about her feelings about hunkering down in a hospital basement as a war continues nearby, she said simply: "It’s very scary!"

- 'Lots of disinformation' that civilian houses not being bombarded

Lydia, the hospital’s press secretary, said she hears "a lot of disinformation" such as that the Russian forces "do not bomb houses, but we see at the hospital that this is not true."

"Because during the war, more than 10 wounded people were admitted to our hospital alone, most of them children. Two children died as a result of shelling by the Russian army,” she recounted.

“One child brought to us was already dead. He suffered as a result of shelling hitting a peaceful (civilian) car his family was getting around in. He died.”

She added: “Almost all of the affected children lost their families. (Russian forces) killed their parents, their siblings.”

The hospital was founded in 1996, and it includes six new units opened less than two years ago with cutting-edge equipment to better treat children. But now it is surrounded by a war that moves closer each day.

Despite the shelling and bombardment, the hospital continues to treat children who need it, and even does surgeries in what is now a war zone, said Lydia.

"We evacuated many children who were in serious condition to other countries – that is, in a condition in which they could survive the journey,” she explained. “We’ve done seven surgeries in the hospital in the last 24 hours. These were operations for newborns, neurological surgeries, and orthopedic ones.”

Lydya underlined that as the war rages on, the pediatric hospital is "also ready to help not only children but also adults."

"Our doctors spend the night here and can provide all the necessary medical care day and night," she said.

- Hospital under fire

Even the hospital – a place that under the Geneva Convention and other rules of war should never be a target – came under fire from Russian forces, Lydya said.

"The Russian army is shelling both hospitals and ambulances. Our hospital also suffered as a result of shelling near the hospital, (and) three bullets hit the windows of the hospital, at one of the buildings where children are usually located,” she said.

“No one was hurt, everyone was evacuated from this room," she added.

From Feb. 24, the very first day of the war, the number of patients in the country's largest children's hospital began to drop as many patients were discharged, she said, while some non-urgent surgeries were delayed.

"We only performed emergency surgeries. So at the hospital, where usually we had more than 1,000 patients, already on the first day of the war, only 300 remained," she said.

As the hospital is cooperating with several foreign clinics, Lydya said they have already transferred over 50 patients suffering from cancer to those facilities.

"Now they’re on their way to Poland, Germany, and other European countries. Currently we have about 200 patients at the hospital," she stressed.

Lydya said that she herself witnessed shell coming down near the hospital, adding that "there was some kind of explosion, all our windows, all doors were shaken."

"So of course we’re afraid for our patients,” she added. “We can provide medical care, but, unfortunately, no one can guarantee their safety now."