Empty strollers remind world of children killed in Ukraine war

Lviv, a city in
western Ukraine, is among the few regions still relatively safe from the
ravages of war. Hundreds of Ukrainians have sought refuge in Lviv as their residential
towns and cities are bombed into destruction. With thousands of Ukrainians
dead, including at least 109 children, Lviv’s city hall lined up 109 empty
strollers to remind the world of the real impact of the war.

The city hall was
stacked up with the strollers arranged in neat rows, one for every child killed
since Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation
in Ukraine,” which both Ukrainian authorities and the West have termed an
invasion. At the demonstration at Lviv’s city hall, a little girl sat on a
bench holding a tiny Ukraine flag.

“Remember your
children when they were small and sitting in strollers like this,” said
Zhuravka Natalia Tonkovyt, a Ukrainian Canadian citizen in her appeal to
Russian mothers at the demonstration at Lviv’s city hall, reported Reuters.   

Also Read | Ukraine’s cultural capital no longer distant from the war

The Russian
offensive in Ukraine has killed thousands, many among them civilians. Hospitals
have been shelled out of existence as have movie theatres where many were
taking refuge. On Saturday, Russia’s defence ministry reported that hypersonic
Kinzhal missiles have been used in Ukraine, according to an IFX report. The
Kh-47M2 Kinzhal (dagger) is a Russian nuclear-capable, air to ground ballistic
missile.

Also Read | As Russia blows up cities, Ukraine takes battle to cyberspace

Meanwhile, a
humanitarian corridor is scheduled to open in the Luhansk region on Saturday,
the region’s governor Serhiy Gaiday said. “A humanitarian corridor has been
agreed, we will try to evacuate people and bring food today. A “regime of
silence” has been agreed for March 19,” the governor said on Telegram.

Further, Ukraine
President Volodymyr Zelensky has called for urgent peace talks with Russia
after Moscow said it was “tightening its noose” around the port city of Mariupol.
Moscow has attacked Mariupol relentlessly over the last few days and Ukrainian
authorities said they have lost access to the Azov Sea.