By Gleb Garanich

KYIV (Reuters – Ukrainian nurse Oksana Martynenko, and her fellow nurses have 21 babies they need to take care of at a makeshift clinic located in a basement near Kyiv. All of these children are surrogates whose families cannot visit them as a result of the war.

While she is busy, her children are also at risk. She is currently with her children in Sumy (a region 200-miles (325 km) to the east of Moscow, where Russian forces have bombarded.

Martynenko is not allowed to attempt to contact them. They live with their grandmother.

As she changed one baby’s diaper, she said that “We haven’t been able to reach home since February 24.”

“I come from Sumy but cannot travel to Sumy. My children live at home. The Russians began bombarding our town yesterday. Each day we await news about the events in that area. We cannot abandon these children.”

Martynenko checks in with her family whenever she is able to to check if they’re safe and if they slept well at night. As advancing Russian troops attack towns and cities, Ukrainians are running between their homes and shelters from the air as they flee to safety.

She said that the baby in her care was not her fault. It is their fault they can’t come and take them. Therefore, we remain here and help the children with whatever we can.

The clinic is bare except for one nurse who pushes the baby carriage and holds it in one hand while her coworkers comfort the child. To sterilize the infants, a row of plastic sheets is laid on top.

Staff reported that one couple from Germany, and another from Argentina had arrived in Kyiv to join their surrogate kids. It was unclear when they would be allowed to leave the country.

‘TERRIFYING’

Ukraine is a major international center for surrogacy. There are thousands of Ukrainian babies every year. Some estimates say that many of these are taken to other countries by foreigners.

Rights groups, former surrogate mothers have raised concerns about this practice. They are concerned about the risks of exploiting women in poverty and the emotional and physical cost to the mother and her baby.

For their safety, the infants at the Kyiv Clinic were born in different maternity wards throughout the capital.

Since Moscow’s February 24 “special operation,” which it claims was to “denazify and demilitarize its neighbor, heavy fighting has been raging around Sumy in Ukraine’s northeast. This claim Ukraine denies as an excuse for an illegal invasion.

Numerous people were killed and millions fled from the country. Many towns and cities were badly affected by fighting, shelling, strikes, and airstrikes. Russia denies targeting civilians.

Although Kyiv is faring well, the Russian military has begun to close in on the city, and the bombardment has increased. Five people died in air strikes and shelling on the city Tuesday.

Antonina Yefymovych was also a nurse and said that she felt exhausted. Staff were being trapped, working 24 hours a day to provide care for children.

“We have no time for rest right now… We take short breaks to switch. Yefymovych stated that it is difficult, hard.

As the bombardment escalates, louder explosions can be heard. It’s truly frightening.