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

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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/  

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Episode Transcript

David Liss (00:11):
Welcome to the Wellness Musketeers podcast,
your guide to navigating theworld of health, wellness, and
the art of living.
I'm your host, Dave Liss, aDC-based media professional.
I'm joined by Ketel Hviding, aneconomist with 35 years of
experience, most recently 24years at the IMF and currently
adjunct lecturer in economicsand politics with Science OX in

(00:35):
France.
Ketil has extensive experiencehelping emerging market
economies to deal with adverseshocks to the economy.
We are delighted to welcome MPYaroslav to the podcast.
A member of the Ukrainianparliament since 2019, MP
Yurchyshyn has establishedhimself as a leading voice for

(00:56):
reform and transparency.
He currently serves as chairmanof the Freedom of Speech
Committee, roles that place himat the heart of Ukraine's
efforts to strengthen itsdemocratic institutions.
Before entering parliament, mpYurchishin was the executive
director for TransparencyInternational Ukraine, where he
gained international recognitionfor his anti-corruption work.

(01:19):
He's also been a member of theCivil Control Council at the
National Corruption Bureau ofUkraine and played a key role in
the reanimation package ofreforms, a coalition of civil
society organizations.
Today, we'll discuss the recentbombings and attacks in Kyiv,
impact of war on Ukrainiansociety and explore the broader

(01:39):
challenges and opportunitiesfacing Ukraine in these
turbulent times.
MP Yurchyshyn, we thank you forjoining us.
Before we get started, don'tforget to subscribe and leave us
a five-star review.
Your feedback helps grow thispodcast and with that, here's
our conversation with MPYurchyshyn.

Ketil Hviding (01:59):
Welcome, MP Yurchyshyn.
Russia has been stepping uptheir attacks on Kyiv.
Very recently there weremassive drone attacks.
Could you describe the impactof these recent attacks on Kyiv?

Yaroslav Yurchyshyn (02:12):
In reality now Russia is using a very cruel
strategy, using drones, namedShahid Iranian drones, to attack
Ukraine, to attack criticalinfrastructure and have a
possibility to save thecivilians.
Not enough, we don't have a lotof missiles, we don't have a

(02:36):
lot of equipment, and even inKiev they start to attack
through the rockets, using withrockets, and the most terrible
attack was several weeks ago.
Then Russia told that theytried to attack something with
connection with war, but inreality, attacked Children's

(02:57):
Hospital of Mabit, one of thebiggest hospitals in the country
and unique in its fear becauseour children have that have
connection with very heartdisease, cancer, heart diseases,
but in our hospital we don'thave appropriate equipment to

(03:20):
help our children.
We lost not a hospital, we losta hundred many because
children now don't havepossibility to receive treatment
.
Their parents are using drugs.
So, in reality, the goal ofRussia not was to destroy

(03:43):
something, but to attack oursouls, our children, and it's
the most cruel what they do.
They're doing that not only inKiev.
In Kharkiv, parental house wasattacking in the beginning of
war.
In Kiev region, in small cityof war.
In Kiev region, in small city.

(04:04):
We don't have other possibilityto use our hospital, our
parental medicine Due to themost cruel that Russia attacking
our future, our children, ourhealth care system, our schools.
And several kids died, not inattack but after that.

(04:27):
Why?
Because small 10, even not 10,six-year-old boys was not killed
through attack, but he notreceive appropriate treatment
and die few days after that.
And it's a crime.
It's a crime against humanityBecause your soldiers can't

(04:49):
fight on the front line.
It's not honest.
It's really not reality.
We think that it couldn't bethe reality of our center.
But okay, it's soldiers, theyprepare for that.

David Liss (05:04):
How are the families coping and what kind of support
is being provided to them?

Yaroslav Yurchyshyn (05:10):
Our government has requests not only
for using our budgetpossibility to help our families
, but our international partners, our charity foundation and
many businesses help to family.
First of all, now we collectmore than $75 million through

(05:35):
the United24.
It's a charity platform.
Different actors can give moneyto help.
For what goals do we collectthis money?
For help for families, forbuying new equipment, because we
do need that.
Some of them we receive as agift from our international

(05:59):
partners the USA , GreatBritain and the European Union.
But the biggest part of thismoney will be used for
rebuilding, because we arerebuilding Ahmadiyya In our
place.
Two blocks of Ohmadit wasdestroyed, one is shadowed and

(06:19):
really it's impossible torebuild that, but one of them
can be rebuilt and we start torebuild that.
I have seen videos of livepeople passing water and
caregivers with babies withcancer outside the hospital

(06:40):
receiving some kind ofnourishment.
It was really something to seesome of those images and videos.
I don't know if you've metfamilies on an individual level
that are dealing with this.
Yes, we have a list of families who are
suffering after this attack andeach family receives care.

(07:02):
Yes, in different situations.
In some situations, we don'thave any possibility to help
because when, for example, thissix-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 fromany side from government, from
charity foundation not returnson, parents, grandson, grandmom

(07:29):
and granddad.
Due to that, yes, in somesituations you don't have the
ability to help.
But for people who need careand treatment, we collect money.
We are now using our hospitalfor all the country, first of

(07:52):
all in the western part of thecountry, all the country, first
of all in the western part ofthe country.
But not all can be transporteddue to their illness and their
condition.
So, we find a possibility toreplace them in our hospital in
Kiev and it's a very personalapproach to each family.
We receive what they need foods, care, houses, because part of

(08:19):
the family was not from Kiev.
It's a central hospital.
Many, many people with childrenwith 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

(08:42):
lot, but in this situation, wetry to find any possibility of
help.

Ketil Hviding (08:49):
You mentioned that Russia is trying to break
your soul, basically as a terrorcampaign against Ukraine.
Of course it's very hard, butalso the Ukrainian soul seems to
be very strong when it comes toactually pure infrastructure
like, in particular, energy.
I would think that alsosomething that they're trying is
to break down the electricityproduction, in particular before

(09:14):
the winter.
How do you see that situation?
Do you have alternative sourcesof energy production, for
instance, or maybe have beenable to reconstruct some of the
facilities?

Yaroslav Yurchyshyn (09:26):
Our industry of energy drives you to
the possibility to fix what wecan fix.
Try to use all possibilities tofix what we can fix.
But previously we usedold-fashioned post-Soviet type
of energy supplying plants anddue to that, yes, it's very hard
to repair them because in somesituations we even don't have

(09:50):
enough materials for thatbecause it's produced only in
Russia.
Due to that, yes, now we have abig program using different
sources of energy, renewableenergy, small plants, not big
plants, which can be used incities.
There are many, many generatorswhich help somehow to separate

(10:15):
households, and it's a bigprogram.
Yes, we create requests for ourpartners.
I would say it helps a lot.
We even have big generatorswhich can be used for some
institutions and some dozens ofthem using QSAID mechanism, and

(10:36):
some not a big city or not verybig city, for example, Zhytomyr
in central part of Ukraine.
Grid mobile system, a separatesystem the city.
It's for us, it's the one wayto make our energy supply more

(11:00):
mobile, more decentralized.
For us, in reality, it's ourpossibility.
But now we have for ours.
We have lights for ours.
We don't have lights in ourflats.
First of all, in the bigcountry Kyiv, the worst
situation.
Why?
Because a lot of criticalinfrastructure 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 smallvillage, not a big city, named
Ukrainka.
There was a Trebilska energyplant.
It was destroyed totally.

David Liss (11:48):
Technical difficulties in our
communications with Ukraineprevented us from completing our
recording.
A huge thanks to our guest MPYaroslav Yurchyshyn, to help the
people of Ukraine.
Now you can make a donation toUnited24.
A link is provided in our shownotes.
Thank you for joining us forWellness Musketeers.

(12:08):
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(12:31):
com.