Ukraine: Tribute to victims of children’s hospital hit by Russian strike

This article was originally published in English

Tributes were paid in Kyiv for the victims of a Russian strike on a children’s hospital on Monday.

A chamber orchestra played in the rubble of the building on Friday.

Ukraine’s largest children’s medical facility was hosting 627 patients at the time of the attack, which killed at least 44 people.

Dozens of children battling serious illnesses were also injured.

Two-year-old Dmytro has leukemia

Oksana Halak learned about her two-year-old son Dmytro’s diagnosis with acute lymphoblastic leukemia only in early June. She immediately decided to have him treated in Okhmatdyt, “because it is one of the best hospitals in Europe.”

She and Dmytro were at the hospital for treatment when sirens sounded throughout the city. They were unable to run to safety because the little boy was on an IV drip.

“It is essential not to interrupt these infusions”she explained.

After the first explosions, the nurses helped them to take refuge in another, safer room without windows.

Shortly after, they were evacuated to the National Cancer Institute. Today, Dmytro is one of 31 patients who, in a difficult fight against cancer, must adapt to a new hospital.

“The destruction of Okhmatdyt is the pain of the whole nation”said the general director of the National Cancer Institute, Olena Yefimenko.