Tanya will give birth to her third child any moment. However, her husband cannot be with her at the birth - he cannot leave the front. "It is very difficult from a moral point of view, because now it is dangerous everywhere. But I decided to give birth because children mean happiness," Tanya tells the German public television ARD. Like many other expectant mothers, she wants for her children above all a life without Russian missiles. She hopes that peace and tranquility will return, and that passenger planes will fly in the sky again and the children will enjoy them. "I want us to have a free sky", the woman shares.
The challenge of giving birth during war
Airborne warnings in the city of Chernihiv are constant. They pose a threat even to the smallest. Pediatric nurse Tetyana Deryukha and her colleagues know what this means - to be as fast as possible. Russia and Belarus are only 60 km apart, missiles can reach the city in minutes. Therefore, mothers and newborns must be moved to the cellar or the corridor. The doors there should serve as protection from possible blast waves.
"At first, I was very afraid for the children and mothers. There were times when the elevators did not work and we had to go down the stairs with the mothers and babies. But we got used to that too. "Of course, we are still afraid and anxious," says the nurse.
She has worked at the obstetrics and gynecology hospital for more than 30 years - she has held thousands of babies in her arms. But since the start of Russia's war against Ukraine, the number of newborns has dropped dramatically. Millions of women have left Ukraine. Many of those who have remained in the country are postponing having children until later.
Those who decide to get pregnant during the war are exposed to extremely high stress. Premature births often result. "We wanted a second child and took the risk of pregnancy and childbirth during the war. I think the war had a big impact. I am a mother. I am under constant stress, which is why I had a premature birth," says Katerina. "But babies are born despite everything. Because if we don't have children, how can we continue to live," the mother-to-be added to ARD.
Parents are looking for salvation for their children abroad
No one knows how long the war will last, which is why the responsibility of future parents is immeasurable. And the future of their children is unclear. Since Ukraine is short of soldiers, there are intense discussions about lowering the mobilization age. Tetyana Deryukha is not only a pediatric nurse in wartime, she is also a mother: "If these children are sent to their deaths, what will happen to Ukraine in ten years? Yes, I understand that the pressure on us to lower the mobilization age is growing. But even though I have a son at the front, whom someone could replace, I am against sending 18-year-old boys and girls to war," says Tetyana.
At home, she shows a video of her son Bogdan. He has been fighting in Donbass, one of the most dangerous parts of the front, for months. "I'm very afraid for him. I read the news first thing in the morning," the woman says. Almost all the men in Tetyana's family have been or are at war. Every day, she sees the consequences of the Russian attacks: only the foundations remain of the house where Tetyana's mother lived. Her mother-in-law was killed in shelling in 2022, her house has been destroyed. "I understand that parents are taking their children out of the country. And even though two of my boys are soldiers, and this could happen to my youngest son," Tetyana says.
The future of young Ukrainians is unclear
From the classroom to the front: this is the US government's idea to provide more soldiers for the Ukrainian army. Ukraine should also mobilize 18-year-olds, the US insists. But the Ukrainian military leadership has so far steadfastly refused. Despite this, there are parents who send their sons abroad after they finish school. The topic is also being intensively discussed in high schools in Chernihiv. Should young people stay in the country and possibly be sent to the front - or leave Ukraine while this is still possible?
16-year-old Dmytro told ARD the following: "All this has a big impact on our lives, on our plans. People are dying and people are being sent to war. In these times, one cannot live peacefully. Probably the best solution now is to go to another country and build a new life there".
The German public-law media also quotes his classmate Maxim, 15 years old: "I love my homeland and I believe it is a civic duty to defend it with a weapon in hand. That's why I plan to join the army when I turn 18.
In fact, Maxim would like to study history, and Dmytro would like to become a software engineer. But now the war is defining their plans for life. And it threatens the future of Ukraine. In no other country in the world is the birth rate so low and the death rate so high. Ukraine is in a demographic crisis, says economist Ella Libanova.
Currently, Russia has occupied about 20 percent of Ukraine's territory. Millions of people who remain there are no longer available to the Ukrainian economy. To counteract demographic trends, the war must end. "Nobody knows where the line is beyond which Ukraine can no longer recover - I mean the demographic line. I don't know where it is either, but I fear we are already approaching it. Of course there is such a risk - we are constantly being killed, and children are almost never born," Libanova told ARD.
During this time, little Lev and little Sofia have already cried in the obstetrics and gynecology hospital in Chernigov. Their mothers hope that the war will end as soon as possible and peace will come.
Author: Vasili Golod (ARD)