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A Ukrainian children’s hospital in Chernihiv has called for the evacuation of its young cancer patients as Russian forces surround the city, according to numerous reports.
Currently, at least 11 children are blocked in the oncology ward of the Chernihiv Regional Children’s Hospital, and food and medicine are becoming increasingly scarce.
“We don’t know how much time we have,” Sergei Zosimenko, a philanthropist who supports patients, their doctors and parents, told The Guardian. “We don’t really know how to survive here – it’s unrealistic. We don’t have any more resources.”
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Chernihiv Regional Children’s Hospital in Ukraine.
(Google Maps)
The northern Ukrainian city, home to about 285,000 people, is located about 43 miles from the Belarusian border and is surrounded by Russian troops on all sides. It is under siege and two days ago a missile struck about 650 feet from the hospital, reports said.
Satellite image shows a fire in the Epicenter K warehouse and destroyed fields in Chernihiv, Ukraine, February 28, 2022. BLACKSKY / Distribution via REUTERS
Other hospitals in Poland and Slovakia have agreed to continue treatment and waive fees for children between the ages of two and 15. But the only way out of the city would be by helicopter.
Branches littered the street next to a damaged building after ongoing hostilities since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in Chernihiv on February 27, 2022 in this still image on social media, received on February 28, 2022 by Reuters.
“The problem is that we cannot evacuate children from the ground. We can only evacuate them by air,” Zosimenko said. “All routes to our city are mined.”
At least one of the children has Hodgkin’s lymphoma, while most of the other children are reported to have leukemia. Although local pharmacies and other shops donate to the hospital, Zosimenko said the goods children need, including painkillers, are in short supply.
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“When people have cancer, they need a lot of painkillers, and we have a problem with morphine and other drugs,” Zosimenko said. “For example, at the Chernigov Oncology Hospital, they have only eight ampoules of morphine or other painkillers.”
Sometimes children and people in the hospital were forced to take refuge when air raid sirens sounded. Conditions at the shelter are not ideal for preventing disease, so people slept on the first floor and ran down every time there was an air strike, according to The Guardian.
“Everyone is tired, especially the medical staff, they haven’t slept normally in the last week, only two or three hours,” Zosimenko said.
Expressing hope, Zosimenko noted that hospital staff are working to keep children in high spirits and protect them from conflict.
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“We have covered them from this as much as possible,” he told the media. “They understand what’s going on, but they know they’re not alone.”