The brutality of the Russian invasion has forced Ukrainian parents to take heartbreaking measures to protect their children. One example was a Ukrainian mom who wrote the family's contact information on her daughter's body.
Sasha, 33, did such a thing as she feared she and her husband could be killed by Russian troops during their escape, leaving their young girl an orphan. Russia's attack on Ukraine caught Sasha's family by surprise, with their lives turned upside down. The 33-year-old was an art teacher, a painter, and a former art curator before the war started.
Sasha, who lived in the center of the capital city of Kyiv, said that she would often go on walks near the canal with her family. That normal and peaceful life all changed on February 24 when the first Russian bombs fell on Ukraine. Reuters reported then that Russian President Vladimir Putin had authorized a special military operation in Ukraine to eliminate a serious threat.
Sasha wrote her family's contact information on her daughter's back
Once the Russian onslaught started, Sasha only had one thing on her mind: to get her 2-year-old daughter to safety. Sasha quickly packed up as many belongings as she could carry and fled Kyiv alongside her husband and their young child.
Sasha had this fear of Russian forces targeting ordinary Ukrainian civilians, so in preparation for their long journey ahead, she wrote her extended family's contact information in permanent marker on her daughter's back.
Upsetting. Ukrainian mothers are writing their family contacts on the bodies of their children in case they get killed and the child survives. Imagine this for a second. Unreal. (via Sasha Makoviy) #Ukraine #RussiaUkraineWar pic.twitter.com/oy1wE7te5I
— Josh Benson (@WFLAJosh) April 5, 2022
Sasha, whose surname is being withheld for her safety, told Today that she tried to imagine if something happened to her and her husband, there would be no information about their daughter.
Apart from the contact information she wrote on her daughter's skin, Sasha also created a makeshift contact card that contained her daughter's grandparents' information, just in case something unfortunate happened to them.
Sasha added that they did not know if it would be safe for them. She said that the sounds of bombing woke them up at 5 am. Sasha heard the sounds of their air defense, the sirens, and she just could not believe the Russians were bombing them.
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Sasha recently uploaded the picture of her daughter on Instagram primarily for herself, but the photo has now gone viral with the image perfectly encapsulating the fear parents are experiencing currently in Ukraine because of the war.
Sasha said she is an artist and she wanted to show her feelings. Sasha added that she thinks the world should see it with parents across the globe shocked and telling her that they can't imagine Russians could do something like this.
Sasha and her family were able to flee Kyiv safely. Others, however, are not as lucky. According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), 1,480 civilians have been killed because of the conflict as of April 5, while 2,195 people have been injured.
