At a hospital in the city of Dnipro, the doctors wanted to show us the cost of this war. In the nursery, we met three young Ukrainians. The first was Yana. The 10-year-old was at the station with her mother last Friday, leaving the fighting further east. She has lost her right leg below the knee, her left leg and her mother. Picture: Yana lost her mother, as well as her right leg below the knee and her left leg Live war in Ukraine: Putin warns West of “very painful consequences” In the next bed, Katarina is 12. Doctors rescued her severely injured legs. But she, too, lost her mother. Kindness knows their trauma and it is understandable that the doctors asked us not to show them their faces or to interview them. But then what else needs to be heard? In the next room, we met Andrei, 17. He was also at the station last week. His hand has been amputated at the elbow. Read more: Russian Black Sea flagship Moskva sank after being attacked by Ukrainians Image: Doctors rescued Katarina’s severely injured legs. The 12-year-old also lost her mother. They were all in the thousands as they tried to board trains in Kramatorsk to escape danger further east when it was targeted by a rocket. There is peace and quiet in the hospital, but it is not safe. The glass on the windows has adhesive tape. Wooden palates have been placed in the window frames. preparation for what may follow. Subscribe to Ukraine War Calendars on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and Spreaker Dnipro acts as a regulator for Ukraine The city of Dnipro is separated by a huge river. It acts as a lucky barrier for Ukraine against any Russian advance from the east. Driving around, you feel like a city on the edge. Air raid sirens go out many times every day. Mostly, they are false alarms. Picture: The situation on the 50th day of the war in Ukraine At present, the whole city is under the control of Ukraine. But this week, Russian missiles hit the city’s newly built international airport. Block the sirens and Dnipro feels like a place that was, before this war, at the top. Follow the Daily Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Spreaker Some of the old Soviet concrete apartment buildings have been repainted in bright colors. There are new hotels, restaurants and a wonderful modern fresh food market. This was, and still is, a city with a future. But the stories of displaced people from the East, who now host them, have shaken them. Mariupol also had a future until a few weeks ago. It is now an urban wilderness. Picture: The Dnipro branch of the Ukrainian Association of the Blind is a place that is now a refuge for anyone who needs it Providing shelter to all On the east side of the river is the Dnipro branch of the Ukrainian Union of the Blind, a place that is now a refuge for anyone who needs it. Among them, three generations of a family from the Far East of the country. Olga Polyniceva told me that they spent 24 days underground in a bomb shelter. The bombs, he said, fell around just outside. When the power went out they had no choice but to leave. Image: Larysa Barvina called the shelter a “paradise” In the quiet of the corridor, we found Larysa Barvina from the town of Slovyansk. Describe this place as paradise, and from the hell he escaped, it certainly is. “There was a whole range of emotions,” he told me. “In my hands, my feet, my ears. The vibrations from the bombs.” This is the experience of war for the blind. Image: The Russians have said they will target command centers “Weapons, weapons, weapons” Outside the town hall, we met the mayor, Borys Filatov. He does not stay in one place for long. The Russians have said they will target command centers. His office is not a military command center, but in Kharkov, northeast, the Russians hit the administration buildings. Mayor Filatov will not take his chances. “We need three things: weapons, weapons, weapons,” he told me, echoing his president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Image: Mayor Borys Filatov says Ukraine needs “weapons, weapons, weapons” Asked about the new $ 800 million approval for new weapons by President Biden, he said: “Yes – we are very happy and thank our Western friends, but Western aid is slow, slow and slow.” The challenges for Dnipro are huge. Caring for the wounded and displaced, but also preparing, as much as they can, for the days to come.
