As Putin’s bombs rained down on Kiev tonight, a small miracle was brought to the world in chaos.
As Russian invading forces bombed terrified families, a 23-year-old woman had reason to be perhaps more feared than others.
Her baby was born as she hid, protected from the attack, in a shelter in the city while gunfire raged outside.
But just before 8:30 p.m., little Mia was born in one of the most stressful circumstances of childbirth.
His mother’s screams were heard by Ukrainian police, who rushed to help.
One police officer, Mykola Shlapak, said they helped her give birth to the little girl and called an ambulance, which took them both to hospital, where they both remain and are said to be feeling well.
Last night, her arrival was hailed as a miracle, as her story prompted a woman to say, “Your birth is hope in this dark time.”
The photo of her little one, who had caught her mother in the shelter, was hailed as a beacon of hope at the darkest hour in Ukraine.
The amazing delivery was unveiled by Hanna Hopko, chairwoman of the Democracy in Action conference.
She said: “Mia was born in a shelter tonight in a stressful environment – the bombing of Kiev.
“Her mother is happy after this challenging birth.
“When Putin kills Ukrainians, we call on the mothers of Russia and Belarus to protest Russia’s war in Ukraine. We protect life and humanity. “
While Kiev was attacked by Russian forces, a little girl named Mia was finally born in a bomb shelter.
Elsewhere under the maternity ward in the basement, a baby boy was born away from the chaotic and violent scenes outside.
The little boy, seen here with his mother, can have no idea of the turmoil around him as the Russian force against Kiev
After the news of Mia’s birth spread, she was hailed as a “miracle” and a beacon of hope in Ukraine and Kiev’s darkest times.
Incredibly, little Mia is not the only baby born during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
A doctor at the maternity ward – who published with the mother’s permission – said the newborn boy had also been born overnight.
Due to the bombing, the reception was destroyed, so he entered the basement.
The doctor added: “In conditions far from those that deserve a new life – the voice of the newborn … It’s a boy!”
Kiev has endured one of its most bitter nights of fighting, and its armed forces have said they shot down a Russian military transport plane carrying 150 paratroopers on its outskirts.
The plane crashed near Vasilkov, 20 miles south of Kiev, the Ukrainian military said.
The fate of those on board was unclear. The planes – medium-range military transport aircraft, which first went into service in 1974 – can hold 150-225 fully equipped soldiers and are used to launch paratroopers into combat operations and supplies.
Not long after, the Ukrainian State Agency for Special Communications announced that Ukraine’s air defense had shot down a Russian short-range aircraft and a helicopter in Donbas.
Vladimir Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, was seen addressing the nation on Friday night
Photos posted on social media show what they say are explosions in Kiev on Friday night
Ukrainians sing their national anthem in a basement in Cherkasy, 120 miles south of Kiev
Russian troops are now advancing on Kiev from the north and east, with US intelligence saying the plan is to besiege the city, seize an airport and launch paratroopers who will then attack the capital. The goal would be to take over the government and force them to sign a peace treaty that would regain control of the country of Russia or a Russian puppet.
WAR IN UKRAINE: LAST
- Russia has said it does not want to negotiate with the Ukrainian government until the military operation is over
- He came after Zelensky called for a sit-in with Putin to end the fighting
- Putin says he would be ready to send a team of negotiators to meet with Zelensky in Belarus to help with the invasion
- The Russian president then called on the Ukrainian military to overthrow the “regime” in Kiev
- Chinese President Xi spoke with Putin on the phone and called for a diplomatic solution to the fighting
- Ukraine has said Russia has bombed 33 civilian sites in Kiev in the past 24 hours
- Two children were killed in the attack in Kiev last night
- Ukraine bans men aged 18 to 60 from leaving the country to enlist in the armed forces
- Zelensky allowed anyone of all ages to join the armed forces and called on Europeans from other countries to come and join the battle
- Russia is sending paratroopers to Chernobyl after capturing it on Thursday, Moscow said
- Ukraine reports “abnormal” levels of radiation at the plant amid fears that the nuclear storage facility was breached during a battle, but Moscow said the readings were normal.
- Russia claims to have destroyed 118 Ukrainian military sites in 30 hours of fighting
- Prime Minister Boris Johnson has promised more support in Ukraine in the coming days
- Johnson shared a phone call with Zelensky on Friday morning
A S-300 surface-to-air missile system destroyed a Russian Sukhoi Su-25 and an unspecified helicopter at midnight, they said.
Currently, the Russian Air Force has about 250 Su-25s of all variants and they are considered a staple in Russian assault regiments.
The news came shortly after Ukraine’s president warned that the Russians intended to take Kiev overnight, urging their compatriots to resist the expected attack as Western authorities say the city appears surrounded.
Vladimir Greenaddressing the nation from a secret place in the capital, he had a terrible warning about his hostile and defiant people on Friday night.
“Russia will try its best to break our resistance,” he said in a video posted on social media.
“Tonight the enemy will begin to storm us.” We have to resist them! ‘
Zelenski said Chernigov, Simi, Kharkiv, Donbass and the south could also be attacked.
“Tonight will be difficult, very difficult. But the morning will come, “he said, according to The Kyiv Independent.
The 44-year-old man mentioned the Russian shelling of a kindergarten in Ukraine, which killed at least one child and wounded more, saying: “What kind of war is this? Were these children neo-Nazis? Or were they NATO soldiers?
Vitali Klitschko, the former world heavyweight boxing champion and now mayor of Kiev, said his city was facing a “difficult night”.
The British Ministry of Defense said that it believes that Kiev, where 1.4 million people live, is close to the encirclement, while the Russians are advancing from all sides.
The streets of Kiev were empty on Friday night as people sought refuge in the city’s subway. Many had fled, with buses and trains outside the city packed with people desperate to escape and long queues of traffic suffocating the roads.
In Cherkasy, home to 270,000 people 190 miles south of Kiev, a social media video shows people in a basement Friday night resolutely singing the national anthem as they await the attack.
In New York on Friday night, a UN resolution calling on Moscow to stop its attack on Ukraine and withdraw its troops was imposed by Russia, a permanent member of the Security Council. China, India and the UAE abstained.
Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin called on Ukrainian troops on Friday to overthrow their own government and begin talks with the Kremlin.
“It seems that it will be easier for us to come to terms with you than with this gang of drug addicts and neo-Nazis,” he said.