PERSONAL STORY: Pregnant mother in Kyiv braves power cuts and cold, frets over impending birth

Yuliia Chumak, 32, bundled her three-year-old daughter Kvitoslava into warm clothes for kindergarten on Wednesday (January 14), warming her hands with her breath before pulling her on a sled through icy streets.

“I am eight months pregnant, I have a three-year-old child, and a dog, and no electricity, and no heating,” she said. “Well, I don’t know, I love Kyiv. I have a good job here, it’s interesting. I don’t see the need for myself to leave.”

For Chumak, the hardships of winter and war have not shaken her resolve to raise a family. “There will never be a good moment to give birth to a child, ideal conditions, an ideal country,” she said. “There will always be a risk of some crisis, some conflict. What shall we do now – stop living?”

Russia struck cities across Ukraine with missiles and drones this week, knocking out heat and power, exposing millions to dangerous winter cold.

-Anna Voitenko, Andrii Pryimachenko/Reuters