I gave birth in Ukraine during the war and fled when my baby was 7 days old
August 17, 2022
by Jane Ridley
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Galina Diakonenko, as translated by Natalia Kravchuck. It has been edited for length and clarity.
I was eight months pregnant when Russian forces invaded Ukraine in February.
My husband, Yevhen, and I were woken at 4 a.m. by the terrifying sound of explosions. Our home city of Mykolaiv, located in southern Ukraine near the Black Sea, was being shelled.
