Spare a Thought for the Innocent People Being Displaced and Dying Needlessly in Ukraine

By Ooro George Follow @OoroGeorge

A funeral for two teachers in Gorlovka, in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine. Photograph: Sergei Bobylev/Tass

Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians have fled the fighting as a massive Russian military convoy north of Kyiv advances on the city. They are on the run; most of them have no idea where they are going to sleep, what they are going to eat or how they are going to live but returning home is not an option.

Mothers and babies are amongst the most highly vulnerable in Ukraine. Ukraine’s brutal conflict continues to rob innocent and harmless women and children of their right to life and, for the survivors, to the best healthcare possible. This includes prenatal and postnatal care for their mothers. One consequence of the war in Ukraine is manifested as an evident attack on humanity. West of Kyiv, in the city of Zhytomyr, four people, including a child, were killed by a Russian cruise missile.

Essential public services, including healthcare crucial to support mothers and childbirth, are on the brink of total collapse. For patients, some elderly while others on crutches and facing acute health needs, sounds of air raid sirens has suddenly become a common reality amid the military offensive in the country.

In most city hospitals across the besieged country, being rocked back and forth has become a norm. Women who have just given birth by Caesarean section are always rushed from the wards to underground passageways to protect them from bombardment, with no time to rest in between. At least 400 civilian casualties have been reported so far, including children. More than 2,000 people have also been injured.

Even if we are living thousands of miles away from the frontlines in Ukraine, every single scroll on social media bringing news or images of the Russian assault on Ukraine strikes fear in our hearts. And as we watch internationally-syndicated news bulletins on the latest development in Ukraine, from the comforts of our couch, I think it's only proper to spare a thought for the women, youth and children trapped in the midst of the battlefield. Wars and persecutions are not a system, life is a precious good for all, for all people.