Kyiv: During surgery on five-month-old Taras, Oleh Holubchenko’s team was thrown across the room by an explosive wave from an airstrike.
Shards of glass injured Holubchenko’s back and Ihor Kolodka’s face. The baby lay on the table, surrounded by shattered equipment and five bleeding adults.
“Is everyone alive?” Holubchenko shouted.
Anesthesiologist Yaroslav Ivanov manually kept the baby breathing after the ventilator broke. Fearing the ceiling might collapse, some team members ran to the basement with Taras.
This happened after a missile hit Okhmatdyt Children’s Hospital in Kyiv on Monday, shocking Ukrainians and drawing condemnation from Kyiv and Western allies.
The U.N. said on Tuesday there was a “high likelihood” that a Russian missile hit the hospital during airstrikes on Ukrainian cities, which killed at least 44 people. The Kremlin, without evidence, claimed Ukrainian anti-missile fire hit the hospital, reducing large parts of it to rubble.
Two adults died at Okhmatdyt, and dozens were wounded. Many patients, relatives, and staff had fled to basements to avoid the worst of the blast.
“Okhmatdyt was the safest place for kids and adults. That day, I realized there are no safe spaces left,” Ivanov, 39, told Reuters on Tuesday as he recovered from a concussion and cuts.
In the basement, Ivanov and his colleagues found a smoke-free room away from the screams of the injured. They revived the baby and handed him over to another team of doctors to continue the surgery at a different hospital.
Straight Back to Work
As Holubchenko and Ivanov cared for Taras, Kolodka removed glass shards from his face and rushed outside to help. He saw the toxicology department had been flattened.
“Since I was not bleeding anymore, I went outside to keep helping the injured and deal with the aftermath,” Kolodka said.
“We didn’t think about whether it was easy or difficult – we were just doing our job and trying to help.”
After helping rescue workers and soldiers sift through the rubble, he returned home to find there was no power, a common issue as Russia targets the energy system.
Kolodka woke up at 5 a.m. to shower before heading back to work. Holubchenko also returned to the hospital on Tuesday.
“I had to go because there was a meeting with colleagues, to see what was happening with the department and check all the equipment,” Holubchenko said. “I connected with colleagues from the other hospital to ask about the baby’s condition.”
Taras was doing fine after his surgery.
The team felt heartened by the support and gratitude from patients and the community as they battled exhaustion.
Work to repair the hospital began within hours, with hundreds of volunteers helping clear broken glass, rubble, and damaged equipment.
“It is nice to see how united our people are,” Kolodka said.
