Hi!
Let's start with some positive news. I have one. This hard week will be over soon.
That terrible Monday attack left deep wounds in our hearts. It seems that I am still there, stuck in a series of explosions and horrible news. Kyiv, Dnipro, Kryvyi Rih, Sloviansk, Pokrovsk, and Kramatorsk were the targets of russian missiles. Innocent people in their homes, offices and hospital wards were the targets of russian missiles. Children suffering from complicated diseases were the targets of russian missiles.
The missile hit of Ohmatdyt, a children's hospital in Kyiv, shocked the world.
Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský found the right name for russia. He instructed his ministry to tell the russian ambassador to Czechia that bombing children’s hospitals made russians the trash of humanity.
Arsen Savadov (born in 1962), Care (2002-2005)
In total, at least 47 people were killed, and about 170 were injured as a result of this attack in Ukraine. Thirty-four people, including five children, were killed in Kyiv.
Fifty civilian sites, including residential buildings, a business centre, and two medical facilities (a children’s hospital, Ohmatdyt and a maternity hospital, Adonis) were damaged.
I recommend the article on what areas and objects were hit in Kyiv.
Oh my, they even have a page on Wikipedia about the attack.
It is hard. I need to stand up and take a deep breath.
Here. A few words about the photos you will see next. While reading our local newspaper, I found the results of a recent Ukrainian Municipal Survey conducted by the International Republican Institute. The Institute is an American nonprofit organization founded in 1983. It states that it is nonpartisan and not affiliated with any political party. So, I read this survey and will share some slides.
A few words about the survey: it examines citizen attitudes about local governance and municipal services. Polling was conducted in the 21 regional cities of Ukraine, excluding those under the control of russian forces. The survey is based on a sample size of 16,800 respondents.
What else happened this week? The NATO Summit in Washington. The joint declaration following the summit determined that Ukraine is on an "irreversible path" to membership in the Alliance. In addition, the allies pledged to provide long-term security assistance to Ukraine. To do this, they must make proportional contributions to finance Ukraine through 2025, totalling 40 billion euros.
The US Department of Defence revealed that Ukraine will get another $225 million in military aid. Australia announced a record $250 million military aid package for Ukraine. Norway is allocating an additional NOK 1 billion (about $94 million) for Ukrainian air defence systems.
Ukraine expects to receive the first six F-16 fighter jets this summer and up to 20 by the end of 2024. The long wait for their arrival has been accompanied by much hype about what they will help Ukraine achieve. Even words like "game-changer" have been mentioned. So will they be? Recommended reading on this topic is here.
That's all the news for today, as I want to jump into the second part of the letter. Today, I decided to tell you about Ohmatdyt - a brief story about the hospital that became sadly known worldwide after the russian attack. I will accompany my story with the photos I found online.
The history of Ohmatdyt dates back to the nineteenth century. In 1894, at the expense of a prominent businessman and philanthropist, Mykola Tereshchenko, the Kyiv Free Hospital of Cesarevych Mykola was opened for labourers and poor people. In addition, Tereshchenko raised funds from other philanthropists, allowing him to build the two-storey building with 52 beds on time.
Patients received a warm bed, hot meals, medicines and all the necessary procedures at patrons' expense. Patients also had the opportunity to use the library, and the poorest continued to receive social assistance even after discharge. The hospital was also used to hold classes for students.
The Ohmatdyt Hospital in the early 20th century
The construction of the building complex continued. In 130 years, Ohmatdyt has become the largest centre where prominent medical scientists work, growing from 52 beds to 620. Up to 18 thousand children are treated here every year.
Ohmatdyt Hospital is an abbreviation of "Protection of Motherhood and Childhood" (a translation of the Ukrainian phrase Ohorona Materynstva ta Dytynstva). The Institute of Maternity and Childhood Protection was officially opened in Kyiv in March 1929. It was based on a hospital for low-income people, as it already had a maternity ward, a women's consultation, and a children's tuberculosis clinic.
From the first days of the Second World War, Ohmatdyt began to take in wounded soldiers, refugees, and civilians. A bomb shelter was set up in the basement of the building.
The photo of Ohmatdyt in the second part of the 20th century
In 1994, Ohmatdyt celebrated its 100th anniversary, marking the beginning of its modern history. In the fall of 1997, efforts commenced to establish a bone marrow transplant unit at the Center for Pediatric Oncohematology. That same year, the first stem cell transplants in the country were conducted on children with leukaemia. Over the past twenty years, the Center's efforts have saved thousands of Ukrainian children.
Today, Ohmatdyt accepts children and adults. They also do not separate families that have suffered from the war hostilities, for example, who came under fire together. Before the war, this was not the case: children could stay in the wards with one adult. In two and a half years, the oldest patient with an injury was an 83-year-old man, and the youngest was a one-month-old girl from Kyiv.
That's it about the Ohmatdyt story. I am finishing it in a hot mall. We don't have power now. Power outages are severe these days: 7 hours without power, 2, and a maximum of 3 hours with power. It is tough to be without it during the abnormal heat we are experiencing in Ukraine. When I write this (5 pm), it is 36℃ outside.
What about the Ecoflow portable power station you helped me order? I hope I will soon be among the 36% shown in the last row of the graph.
After waiting a week, I finally received a call from the EcoFlow distributor. The representative informed me that my portable power station would arrive in Ukraine on July 15th and be delivered approximately seven days after that. I received the invoice on Saturday and made the payment immediately.
I consider myself lucky (and stubborn) for waiting and purchasing the item at the price listed on the website (UAH 59,999 = approximately $1,500). Interestingly, other stores increased the price by almost $400. The reason behind this seems to be the unusually high demand. Today, I discovered that the EcoFlow station I selected is already out of stock.
I hope to "revive" my fridge in a week. I also ordered some fans, and EcoFlow will help power them during outages.
So, thank you once again for your support.
Before I let you go to live your life, I want to ask you what you think about the Sunday Letters. Do you like them/read them regularly? What do you like the most or don't like? Tell me whatever you want, but just the truth. Thank you!
Sincerely,
Yaroslava