Inside Ukraine’s battle to keep children with cancer alive
Ukraine faces poverty and a humanitarian crisis and cannot sustain the needs of kids with cancer. It’s why Svitlana Pugach has found herself in Australia to find a solution.
What did you do before the war in Ukraine? I was working for Tabletochki, which supports children affected by cancer. It is one of Ukraine’s biggest public charities. Since the Russian invasion we’ve had to expand our fundraising internationally which is why we’re in Australia. The Ukrainian population is facing poverty and a humanitarian crisis and cannot sustain the needs of kids with cancer. Ukrainians have to support the defenders today, because if not, there will be nothing tomorrow.
Where were you when the Russians invaded in February 2022? I was in Kiev. I live near the international airport and from my window I saw Russian helicopters bombing the airport. It was just a horrible bloodbath. I could not believe my eyes. Later, a Russian drone smashed into an apartment building just 100m from mine. Same height, same floor as my apartment. I just got lucky.
How did you treat kids suffering cancer while all this was going on? Shortly after the invasion we launched a massive medical evacuation and in three months we managed to transport 1500 children to other European hospitals and they were admitted free of charge. Many of those children have come home and most of the new cases are being treated in hospitals in the west or central parts of the country, away from the frontline.
How is it for you, personally, living and working in a war zone? For me, I am always very tired and always in a high stress mode. And when I leave Ukraine, it’s even more stressful, because I am not there with my family and my team. A lot of my close friends, especially the men, volunteered for the army and are on the frontline. Some are missing and some have been killed. Not a week goes by without more sad news. It’s heartbreaking.
And your partner? He is Dutch and he lives in the US but visits regularly. He wants me to leave Ukraine. But I can’t. My boyfriend cannot understand. It’s another difficulty.
How do you cope with the sadness? What I have learned over these two years [since the invasion started] is that a person can adjust to almost anything. So this is my new normal. You have to work out your war-life balance. There are daily alarms and when you hear them you have to drop everything and head to the shelter. And so you have to grab hold of every beautiful moment.
Are there any kids you’ve come across that stand out? There is – and that is the story of a six-year-old boy called Roman, from the Donetsk region. They had to flee and a couple of months after that Roman’s mum died and then he was diagnosed with cancer. His father brought Roman to Kiev for treatment while his older brother volunteered for the army. He lost both his legs. What the family has endured is horrendous. But this little boy is absolutely adorable and an inspiring example of resistance.
What do you want Australians to know about the war? Australia has been a great support, but the war is still going on. We have been fighting for two years, and we will continue to fight, but we cannot endure without support. We are fighting not only against Russia, we are fighting for democracy, freedom and human rights.
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