Vlada Yushchenko (19) snuggles with her eight-month-old son Daniel.
He has never met his father.
– Nobody thought the war would come
Vlada and her husband Jaroslav (21) married early. The young family had the future ahead of them. Both Vlada and Jaroslav were students in Kyiv.
– Nobody thought the war would come. Nobody thought that we wouldn’t be allowed to be together, says Yushchenko to the news agency AP.
YOUNG MOTHER: Vlada Yushchenko had a child in her late teens. The husband is 21 years old and a soldier in Ukraine. Photo: Vadim Ghirda/AP
They interview her in a two-room apartment in Brasov, Romania, where she lives with her son, her mother and her seriously ill grandmother. The family is among many millions of Ukrainians who have fled the war.
The husband, aged 21, is, like most other men of his age, obliged to serve in the defense of the country. When the war broke out, they soon realized that the safest thing was to send pregnant Vlada out of the country.
– Couldn’t let go
The husband drove them to the border with Moldova. There they were to say a heartbreaking farewell.
– We couldn’t let go of each other. We stood there for so long. But we realized it was the only right thing to do so that I and the baby would be safe, she says.
Eventually, Vlada moved to Romania with her mother and grandmother. There she also gave birth to her boy.
HAPPINESS: – The child is our happiness, says the young mother. She longs for the day Daniel gets to meet his father. Photo: Vadim Ghirda
The first thing she did was send pictures of the newborn boy to the father and call him. They both cried.
The war will soon enter its second year. The father longs to meet his son physically – for now they talk via video calls.
Breaks down
– Sometimes we break down in tears. But we are also very happy every time we get to see each other on video, says Yushchenko.
The infrastructure in Ukraine has been badly affected by the war, and there is not always a telephone connection. The knowledge that her husband is in the war worries the 19-year-old a lot.
Jaroslav tries to calm her down. He warns her of potential power outages and tells her not to panic if she doesn’t reach him.
SMALL FAMILY: Vlada and Daniel live with Daniel’s grandmother and great-grandmother in a two-room apartment. Photo: Vadim Ghirda/AP
– It is very difficult to watch the news and all the suffering. The missile attacks and the deaths, says Yushchenko.
The husband studied IT before the war. She herself continues her studies in mathematics and physics via distance learning at the same time as she takes care of Daniel.
– I pray every day that everything goes well. And that the city where Jaroslav lives is safe, she says.
Dreaming of the reunion
In Brasov, she tries to create a new everyday life. She goes on long walks with Daniel, and also meets other Ukrainian mothers who stay here. The war is always a backdrop, but when they meet they talk about the role of mother and babies.
GRATEFUL AND AFRAID: Vlada Yushchenko is both grateful to be safe with her son, and afraid that something will happen to her husband, who is left behind in the war. Photo: Vadim Ghirda/AP
Since the start of the war almost a year ago, more than eight million Ukrainians have fled to other European countries. It is the largest internal refugee flow in Europe since the Second World War.
– I feel safe here. We get a lot of help, and I am very grateful, says Yushchenko.
She dreams of the day Ukraine wins the war, and that they can go home and live together as a family. That Daniel will finally get to meet his father.
– It will be an unforgettable meeting. Our child is our happiness, she says.
