Over the course of the Ukraine and Russia conflict, over 953 civilians have been killed as well as the 2,000-4,000 estimated military/volunteer forces deaths according to statistics.  These civilian deaths include over 100 children. Most of these deaths come from the shelling of maternity hospitals and children’s hospitals that have happened over the past weeks. 

This image shows a pregnant woman laying on a stretcher following the strike in Mariupol that came last Wednesday by the Russian government. The woman’s hip had detached and her pelvis was completely crushed. 

She was supposed to give birth at this hospital before the strike and was transported to a different hospital where an emergency C-election was performed, however, there were no signs of life in the baby.  Then, they focused on the mother. “More than 30 minutes of resuscitation of the mother didn’t produce results,” her surgeon said Saturday. “Both died.” Medics said that as they were trying to save her life, she realized she was losing her baby and shouted, “Kill me now!” Doctors said they did not have time to take the woman’s name before her husband and father came to retrieve her body. That meant she did not end up in one of the mass graves being dug for victims of the Russian shelling of the city, they added, according to BBC. 

Many women have come forward with stories of giving birth to their children during this war, as many reported losing their children in miscarriages or losing them due to lack of care or room in hospitals, according to CBS. 

Accused of war crimes, Russian officials claimed the maternity hospital had been taken over by Ukrainian extremists to use as a base, and that no patients or medics were left inside. Russia’s ambassador to the U.N. and the Russian Embassy in London called the images “fake news.”