Currents News Staff
They are too tiny to understand the meaning of war, but these orphans are already victims to its cruelty. They are among the 71 children that were rescued in the hard-hit northern city of Sumy in Ukraine.
Many are disabled, all under the age of fouch and each with individual needs, some requiring constant medical attention. Dr. Borys Todurov is the director of the Heart Institute of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine.
“These are kids from Sumy orphanage Malutka,” the doctor in this video says. “They were evacuated yesterday and miraculously they brought them here to Kyiv. Their journey was very difficult.”
For two weeks, caretakers sheltered the babies and toddlers from Russian bombardment in a basement. When a humanitarian corridor finally opened, they made the dangerous journey here, to the capital. Each little one arrived with an orange tag with minimal details – just name, birth date, and their most urgent medical needs.
All the children were packed across just four ambulances with only two doctors among them.
“Just four babies in the car journeyed from Sumy to Kyiv during six hours without doctor, just the driver,” said nurse Oksana. “Just the driver.”
Now the babies are receiving the medical attention they require but with Russian forces shelling Kyiv, they are still not safe. Nurse Oksana has a simple plea: that the children don’t die.
But in an unprovoked war where the most innocent are targeted, there are few guarantees.