Visiting a Ukrainian City Close to Russia
Chernihiv was under siege in 2022, but still faces deadly attacks.
I have been light on posting in the past few days because I have been in Ukraine with a team from Zentrum Liberale Moderne, a German think-tank focused on liberal democracy and climate.
On April 24, we went to Chernihiv, Ukraine, which is about 100 kilometers from the border with Russia. It was under siege for the first month of the invasion in 2022. On the morning of April 17, three Iskander missiles hit the Hotel Profsilky, killing 18 people and injuring 60. President Volodymyr Zelensky said the attack would "not have happened" if Ukraine had received enough air defense equipment. On April 24, President Biden signed a bill giving Ukraine some $60 billion in military, economic, and humanitarian aid, after months of delay.
We spoke to Dr. Lydia Lavryk, who is the head of the gynecology ward of a nearby hospital. She explained that the hospital windows were recently renovated by U.S. money after it was shelled in 2022, but were blown out again on April 17. At several points, she held back tears. As we left, there was an air raid alert and she made sure that her patients, including a newborn baby, were in the shelter. (The air alert was one of many I experienced in Ukraine that did not amount to local damage.)
I will be posting more on my visit in the coming days at Public Sphere.