Ukraine War – Voices and Developments
Little Cancer Patients and Mothers Sit on the Sidewalk After Attack on Children’s Hospital
Author: Staff Writer
Irpin, Ukraine – On Tuesday afternoon, a few dozen small children and their mothers sat on the sidewalk outside a damaged hospital while nurses tended to wounds sustained during an attack on the building.
The attack was one of several that hit Irpin, a town on the outskirts of Kyiv, earlier in the day. The blasts targeted residential areas and a school, killing at least four people and injuring several others.
The children’s hospital was hit by two rockets, according to hospital staff. The blasts shattered windows, damaged medical equipment, and sent shrapnel flying through the halls.
After the attack, the hospital’s staff evacuated the children and their mothers to the sidewalk outside. They sat there for hours, waiting for ambulances to arrive.
One of the children, a 4-year-old girl named Anya, had been in the hospital for chemotherapy. She was sitting on her mother’s lap, wrapped in a blanket. Her head was bandaged, and her face was covered in blood.
We were in the playroom when the bombs started falling, said Anya’s mother. We ran to the basement, but it was too late. Anya was hit by shrapnel.
Another child, a 6-year-old boy named Ivan, had been in the hospital for a bone marrow transplant. He was sitting next to his mother on the sidewalk, his head in her lap. He had been wounded in the leg, and his bandage was soaked in blood.
I don’t know what we’re going to do, said Ivan’s mother. The hospital is destroyed, and we have nowhere to go.
The attack on the children’s hospital has been condemned by the international community. The United Nations has called it a war crime and demanded that those responsible be held accountable.
The attack is just one of many that have targeted civilians since Russia invaded Ukraine in late February. According to the United Nations, more than 3,000 civilians have been killed in the conflict, and more than 6 million have been displaced from their homes.
The war in Ukraine is a humanitarian crisis, and the children are the most vulnerable victims. They are being killed, injured, and orphaned at an alarming rate. The international community must do everything it can to stop this war and protect the children of Ukraine.
Kind regards E. Thompson.
