Ukrainian MP: 'No Child In Ukraine Doesn't Have Trauma'

As the violence in Ukraine continues to escalate, the country’s lawmakers are growing increasingly worried about the wellbeing of Ukraine’s children. “Our children could’ve been the first generation that doesn’t know nothing about war,” says Ukraine Parliament Member Nataliya Pipa. “That opportunity has been lost.” In the first few days of the war, Pipa says she had to bring her children to stay with relatives in Poland. “Members of parliament were on the list to be killed.” Over the last eight years, Pipa says the war with Russia has traumatized every single one of Ukraine’s children. “At the moment, in Ukraine, no child in Ukraine doesn't have trauma. It is just bigger or smaller,” she explains. “When you have no parents...because they were killed or [the kids] are injured. And when you hear these explosions, it is one trauma. If you just have no childhood and you hear these sirens, it is another trauma.” Now, Pipa is working with several U.S. and Ukrainian nongovernmental agencies to raise money and awareness for the psychological and educational challenges facing the future of Ukraine. According to the UN, more than two-thirds of Ukraine’s minors have been displaced by the war. “Mothers are on the front lines,” says the Lviv representative. “In the Ukrainian army, the war was 28% women. Today it is like 33% of women.”

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