“I chose a very good time to become a mother!”

A year of war but also a year of life, for children born around February 24, 2022. When the Russians invaded Ukraine, some were crying out for the first time. These children have since known only war.

>> A year of war in Ukraine: reports, testimonies, analyses… Follow the special day on franceinfo

In kyiv, Yulia is 35 years old. She recounts with irony the birth of her child on February 28, 2022, a few days after the invasion. “I chose a very good time to become a mother, she said with a smirk. 20 minutes after my son was born, the alarm went off and we were lowered into the maternity ward basement, Julia continues. I spent five days there.”

A few weeks later, she left kyiv with her baby, and took refuge in France for two months. She follows the horror of war from a distance. “When my son was three months old, we discovered the crimes in Boutcha, she says. And it was very stressful for me because even though I know that Russia is the worst nation in the world, I didn’t think it was capable of that.” Yulia then stops breastfeeding her son. “I had no more milk, she explains. I don’t know if I can forgive.”

A real birthday party

Her baby boy, Mark, we discover on video only, from a distance because Yulia’s husband insisted on sheltering him these days, miles from Kiev in case Putin wants “to mark the hit” on February 24. But in a few days, reunited again, Yulia plans a real birthday party for her son.

“I’m going to bake him a cake, balloons everywhere. We’re going to a restaurant. I don’t want the war to steal special moments from his childhood.”

Yulia, mother of Mark

at franceinfo

Yulia also adapts to everyday life. The frequent power cuts for example, and not always an elevator for the family who lives on the 8th floor. “It annoys me but I found the solution, I leave the stroller in the car and I just go up with my baby. Yulia tries him organize a normal life : he walks despite the alerts. It’s not good but I have no choice.”