- I got my two children out of Ukraine, and then returned to Kyiv to cover the war as a journalist.
- I'm 38 weeks pregnant, and my life turned upside down overnight.
- This is Alya Shandra's story, as told to Heather Marcoux.
My first child was born 13 years ago. Two years ago, my second child came amid an ongoing, protracted battle in Donbas, and now, my third child will be born amid a full-blown Russian invasion.
I am 38 weeks pregnant, and after getting my kids out of the country, I am back in Kyiv, where I will remain until it's time to give birth. For me, as a journalist, it's very important to keep covering this, to keep working until the baby comes.
My two other children are already out of the country. They are safe in Germany with my husband's parents. The moment when I was hugging my children just before letting them go was the moment when I really understood what is important in life, and what is not.
I dropped off my kids and returned to work
I never thought we would leave Kyiv. I never thought that there would be an invasion. And then overnight, my life was turned upside now. Russian saboteurs were getting into the city. Amid reports of tanks approaching and as buildings were shelled, I knew I had to get my kids to Germany. But I quickly returned to Kyiv with my husband because I had to get back to work.
I'm the editor-in-chief at Euromaidan Press, an English-language newspaper founded during the 2014 revolution, when Ukrainian protesters ousted the pro-Russia president. We grew from a volunteer initiative that aimed to provide truthful information from the ground, because at the time there was an onslaught of government and Russian propaganda that was denigrating the protesters. But it turned out that the revolution didn't really end. Immediately afterward, Russia occupied Crimea and launched its invasion of Donbas. We needed an independent media outlet to cover Ukraine.
Our team works around the clock in shifts, monitoring news sources, verifying data, covering the situation on the ground, and trying to understand what Ukraine needs in order to resist the invasion. We've only recently found the time for the luxury of sleep. I think that's how most journalists in Ukraine right now are working.
As a journalist and as a mother, I believe that one of the things Ukraine needs to resist the invasion is the support of those in other countries.
You don't think it will happen to you until it does
Don't think that this will not come to you. Evil, if it is not stopped, will grow. Russia has become more and more powerful over the years. I never imagined that war would come to my home, but it did.
Less than two weeks ago I was thinking about very ordinary things. Concerns over my child's activities and grades. Kitchen appliances, buying clothes, my pregnancy, what to make for dinner. The things mothers in other countries are thinking about right now. And it was all taken from me overnight.
I will give birth soon. My husband and I plan to leave the country in our car when it is time, and if I need to give birth along the way, then so be it. If the baby comes early I will give birth here, the way other mothers have.
My friend's wife just gave birth in the basement of a maternity hospital in Kyiv. She was down there with about 30 other women, huddled on mattresses and in blankets with their newborns. I want those families, and all families in Ukraine, to be able to come up from the basements.
We are grateful to all the countries that are opening their doors to refugees, but the thing is — we don't want to flee. We want to live in our own land, in a free and independent country.