Ukrainian woman in Cork raises thousands for mothers giving birth under siege
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A Ukrainian woman living in Cork has raised almost €10,000 for her cousin and her medical colleagues in the besieged city of Kharkiv as they help women give birth in a warzone.
Natalya Zaruba, who lives in Mallow, said she felt compelled to help when her cousin, Dr Irina Ostopova, a gynaecologist in maternity hospital number seven in Ukraine’s second-largest city in the northeast of the country sent her photos last week of the devastation caused by Russian shelling and the impact it was having on the hospital and its patients.
The photographs showed expectant mothers sleeping on mattresses on the ground, swaddled newborns lying on sheets in corridors, and new mums weeping as they were overcome with fear.
“My cousin said she could not leave, that she had to stay to help," Natalya said.
"So I had to find a way to help quickly so we decided to raise money to send to them directly to help pay for food, supplies and a generator."
Kharkiv, in the northeast of the country, has been devastated by Russian air attacks since the invasion began on February 24.
Heavy Russian shelling has laid waste to streets and dozens of buildings.
Patients and staff in maternity hospital number seven have been sheltering in corridors and in basements during the bombardments.
Ms Zaruba’s husband, Jurijs, a Latvian, works in engineering firm BCD, where colleague Damian Moylan heard the story of the maternity hospital and decided to organise a fundraising drive among the staff.
In just a few days, they had raised over €9,300 and arrangements are being made to wire the money directly to the hospital.
Ms Zaruba said her cousin has been deeply moved by the support and solidarity from Ireland.
“Red Cross volunteers are working in the hospital, bringing food but direct money is important too,” she said.
“They have only had bad news on their hands but now they see some hope.”
Ms Zaruba is also working to get her 86-year-old mother, sister and niece out of Ukraine. They are en route to Moldova at the moment.
She is due to fly to Romania on March 15 to collect them and bring them back to Ireland, where they will live in Mallow with her husband, and their two children, Isabelle, 21, and Stephanie, 16.
Meanwhile, Ms Zaruba’s employers, Hidden Hearing, have also donated 4,000 batteries through audiologists, Georgina Hawkesworth, in the Marlboro Street Clinic and Jim Williamson in the Blackrock Clinic to the Ukrainian aid effort.
The donation has been given to Cork Humanitarian Aid Ireland, which is made up of volunteers from Cork Penny Dinners and Cork Missing Persons Search and Recovery (CCMPSAR), and whose first humanitarian aid convoy is due to leave for the Polish-Ukrainian border on Wednesday.
They are working with the Redemptorist order to target the aid to those who need it most.