Children's Hospital Under Siege: MP Yaroslav Yurchyshyn on the Human Toll of War

What if a children's hospital became the target in a brutal conflict? In this powerful episode of the Wellness Musketeers podcast, we’re joined by MP Yaroslav Yurchyshyn, a key figure in Ukrainian politics and an ardent advocate for reform and transparency. As the chairman of Ukraine's Freedom of Speech Committee,  Yurchyshyn provides an unfiltered glimpse into the relentless Russian drone attacks on Kyiv, focusing on the horrifying strike that devastated Kyiv's Children's Hospital. He recounts the harrowing aftermath, the immense loss of young lives, and the heartbreaking impact on families and the healthcare system.

Join us as MP Yurchyshyn shares not just stories of destruction, but tales of resilience and hope amidst the chaos. He highlights the support pouring in from international partners and the ongoing efforts to rebuild essential infrastructure. This episode serves as a poignant reminder of the human cost of war and the unyielding spirit of a nation fighting for recovery and justice. Gain insight into the urgent need for global solidarity and humanitarian aid and hear firsthand how communities are coming together in the face of unimaginable adversity. Don't miss this compelling conversation that underscores the real stories behind the headlines.

• Support Ukraine's fight for freedom and help rebuild vital infrastructure by donating to UNITED24, the official fundraising platform of Ukraine, with just one click. 
• Donate now: https://u24.gov.ua/  

Transcript

David Liss: 0:11

Welcome to the Wellness Musketeers podcast, your guide to navigating the world of health, wellness, and the art of living. I'm your host, Dave Liss, a DC-based media professional. I'm joined by Ketel Hviding, an economist with 35 years of experience, most recently 24 years at the IMF and currently adjunct lecturer in economics and politics with Science OX in France. Ketil has extensive experience helping emerging market economies to deal with adverse shocks to the economy. We are delighted to welcome MP Yaroslav to the podcast.

David Liss: 0:49

A member of the Ukrainian parliament since 2019, MP Yurchyshyn has established himself as a leading voice for reform and transparency. He currently serves as chairman of the Freedom of Speech Committee, roles that place him at the heart of Ukraine's efforts to strengthen its democratic institutions. Before entering parliament, mp Yurchishin was the executive director for Transparency International Ukraine, where he gained international recognition for his anti-corruption work. He's also been a member of the Civil Control Council at the National Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and played a key role in the reanimation package of reforms, a coalition of civil society organizations. Today, we'll discuss the recent bombings and attacks in Kyiv, impact of war on Ukrainian society and explore the broader challenges and opportunities facing Ukraine in these turbulent times. MP Yurchyshyn, we thank you for joining us. Before we get started, don't forget to subscribe and leave us a five-star review. Your feedback helps grow this podcast and with that, here's our conversation with MP Yurchyshyn.

Ketil Hviding: 1:59

Welcome, MP Yurchyshyn. Russia has been stepping up their attacks on Kyiv. Very recently there were massive drone attacks. Could you describe the impact of these recent attacks on Kyiv?

Yaroslav Yurchyshyn: 2:12

In reality now Russia is using a very cruel strategy, using drones, named Shahid Iranian drones, to attack Ukraine, to attack critical infrastructure and have a possibility to save the civilians. Not enough, we don't have a lot of missiles, we don't have a lot of equipment, and even in Kiev they start to attack through the rockets, using with rockets, and the most terrible attack was several weeks ago. Then Russia told that they tried to attack something with connection with war, but in reality, attacked Children's Hospital of Mabit, one of the biggest hospitals in the country and unique in its fear because our children have that have connection with very heart disease, cancer, heart diseases, but in our hospital we don't have appropriate equipment to help our children. We lost not a hospital, we lost a hundred many because children now don't have possibility to receive treatment. Their parents are using drugs. So, in reality, the goal of Russia not was to destroy something, but to attack our souls, our children, and it's the most cruel what they do. They're doing that not only in Kiev. In Kharkiv, parental house was attacking in the beginning of war. In Kiev region, in small city of war. In Kiev region, in small city. We don't have other possibility to use our hospital, our parental medicine Due to the most cruel that Russia attacking our future, our children, our health care system, our schools.

Yaroslav Yurchyshyn: 4:21

And several kids died, not in attack but after that. Why? Because small 10, even not 10, six-year-old boys was not killed through attack, but he not receive appropriate treatment and die few days after that. And it's a crime. It's a crime against humanity Because your soldiers can't fight on the front line. It's not honest. It's really not reality. We think that it couldn't be the reality of our center. But okay, it's soldiers, they prepare for that.

David Liss: 5:04

How are the families coping and what kind of support is being provided to them?

Yaroslav Yurchyshyn: 5:10

Our government has requests not only for using our budget possibility to help our families, but our international partners, our charity foundation and many businesses help to family. First of all, now we collect more than $75 million through the United24. It's a charity platform. Different actors can give money to help. For what goals do we collect this money? For help for families, for buying new equipment, because we do need that. Some of them we receive as a gift from our international partners the USA , Great Britain and the European Union. But the biggest part of this money will be used for rebuilding, because we are rebuilding Ahmadiyya In our place. Two blocks of Ohmadit was destroyed, one is shadowed and really it's impossible to rebuild that, but one of them can be rebuilt and we start to rebuild that.

David Liss: 6:31

I have seen videos of live people passing water and caregivers with babies with cancer outside the hospital receiving some kind of nourishment. It was really something to see some of those images and videos. I don't know if you've met families on an individual level that are dealing with this.

Yaroslav Yurchyshyn: 6:53

Yes, we have a list of families who are suffering after this attack and each family receives care. Yes, in different situations. In some situations, we don't have any possibility to help because when, for example, this six-year-old boy doesn't get any help from to help, because when, for example, this six-year-old boy doesn't get any help from any side from government, from charity foundation not return son, parents, grandson, grandmom and granddad. Due to that, yes, in some situations you don't have the ability to help. But for people who need care and treatment, we collect money.

Yaroslav Yurchyshyn: 7:46

We are now using our hospital for all the country, first of all in the western part of the country, all the country, first of all in the western part of the country. But not all can be transported due to their illness and their condition. So, we find a possibility to replace them in our hospital in Kiev and it's a very personal approach to each family. We receive what they need foods, care, houses, because part of the family was not from Kiev. It's a central hospital. Many, many people with children with cancer live there near the children. Now we're using our location, but for our healthcare system it was a very strong attack on and, due to that, yes, it cost a lot, but in this situation, we try to find any possibility of help.

Ketil Hviding: 8:49

You mentioned that Russia is trying to break your soul, basically as a terror campaign against Ukraine. Of course it's very hard, but also the Ukrainian soul seems to be very strong when it comes to actually pure infrastructure like, in particular, energy. I would think that also something that they're trying is to break down the electricity production, in particular before the winter. How do you see that situation? Do you have alternative sources of energy production, for instance, or maybe have been able to reconstruct some of the facilities?

Yaroslav Yurchyshyn: 9:26

Our industry of energy drives you to the possibility to fix what we can fix. Try to use all possibilities to fix what we can fix. But previously we used old-fashioned post-Soviet type of energy supplying plants and due to that, yes, it's very hard to repair them because in some situations we even don't have enough materials for that because it's produced only in Russia. Due to that, yes, now we have a big program using different sources of energy, renewable energy, small plants, not big plants, which can be used in cities. There are many, many generators which help somehow to separate households, and it's a big program. Yes, we create requests for our partners. I would say it helps a lot. We even have big generators which can be used for some institutions and some dozens of them using QSAID mechanism, and some not a big city or not very big city, for example, Zhytomyr in central part of Ukraine.

Yaroslav Yurchyshyn: 10:48

Grid mobile system, a separate system the city. It's for us, it's the one way to make our energy supply more mobile, more decentralized. For us, in reality, it's our possibility. But now we have for ours. We have lights for ours. We don't have lights in our flats. First of all, in the big country Kyiv, the worst situation. Why? Because a lot of critical infrastructure here Due to that.

David Liss: 11:27

Did you enter any of the plans where the to see the this destruction directly?

Yaroslav Yurchyshyn: 11:33

The initial plans weren't to see this destruction directly. In Yakutia we have a small village, not a big city, named Ukrainka. There was a Trebilska energy plant. It was destroyed totally.

David Liss: 11:48

Technical difficulties in our communications with Ukraine prevented us from completing our recording. A huge thanks to our guest MP Yaroslav Yurchyshyn, to help the people of Ukraine. Now you can make a donation to United24. A link is provided in our show notes. Thank you for joining us for Wellness Musketeers. Tune in for upcoming episodes to learn how to live with a greater understanding of the world we experience together. Please subscribe, give us a five-star review, and share this reporting with your family and friends. You can make a contribution through a link provided in our program notes. To allow this program to grow, send your questions and ideas for future episodes to Dave Liss at davidmliss@gmail. com.