Ukraine live briefing: Russian troop mobilization targets ethnic minorities, Zelensky says
For many Ukrainian women, the war has meant choosing between becoming refugees or staying in Ukraine to support their husbands. Some women with children devote themselves to fundraising for their partners’ military units. Others focus on caring for their children alone.
“It’s very difficult, because when everyone is scattered around Ukraine, I have to be here and there,” said Yuliia Sirenko, 28. “You live one day at a time.”
After more than half a year of fighting, the social services and networks that once helped to sustain the prewar country of more than 40 million people have largely broken down. NGOs are trying to house and assist newly single, displaced and widowed mothers. Their needs are daunting, Miriam Berger and Heidi Levine report. And the start of the school year in September brought little respite: Just over half of schools reopened for in-person learning.