A girl born on the first day of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine has turned one and her parents plan to celebrate the occasion with a cake and a wish for "peaceful skies". According to Metro, Miia Mitskevych was born in a hospital in Ukraine's capital Kyiv as rockets exploded in and around the city on February 24 last year. Her mother Svitlana told the outlet that the toddler spent the first night of her life in a bomb shelter.
The 38-year-old, a lawyer by profession, said the family was very excited and insulated from news of Russian forces marching in.
"We were the happiest ever. We were shopping, decorating the room... Igor, my husband, kept me away from the news about the war. Therefore it was shocking for me," said Svitlana.
She recalled that in the early hours of February 24, 2022, the family, also including their son, Maksym, were awoken by the sound of an explosion outside the windows.
"I screamed and jumped out of bed. Then I ran to the next room to calm the eldest son. The explosion was very powerful, I had the feeling that there were planes dropping bombs," Svitlana was quoted as saying by Metro.
The entire family then went to the underground car park where Svitlana felt stressed and realised she was having contractions.
Igor decided to take her to the hospital. The couple made the trip to Kyiv Perinatal Centre by car, leaving behind their eight-year-old son with his grandparents.
Miia was born at 6.55pm and her parents took her seven floors down to the hospital' bomb shelter where they spent the night.
"Doctors are heroes for whom I will pray all my life. They left their own families and came to the hospital in order to save other people's lives," said Svitlana.
The family spent the next few weeks in Kyiv. On March 3, Igor drove Svitlana and the children to the relative safety of the Zakarpattia region in western Ukraine.
A month later he returned to Kyiv to continue working as an IT specialist.
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