Swelling number of war orphans strains Ukrainian care system

KYIV -- Karina, a war orphan who lives in Kyiv with her aunt, has vivid memories of life before her parents were killed fleeing invading Russian forces.

"I remember mom and dad. Me and dad ate sausages," the 7-year-old said with a giggle. "I helped mum wash the dishes and clean up."

The swelling number of orphans in Ukraine has added to the pressure on a care system already in need of reform before Russia invaded in February last year.

It is just one facet of the suffering that the conflict has inflicted on children.

More than 500 children have been killed since the invasion, according to United Nations (UN) statistics.

More than 9,000 others, many of whom are traumatised by their experiences, have lost their parents because of the war, according to Ukrainian social services.

Injuries, Russian missile strikes, schooling in bomb shelters and separation from parents and relatives all affect children's psychological state, say analysts.

Moscow is meanwhile holding at least 6,000 Ukrainian children in "re-education" camps across Russia, including in Siberia, a US government funded study reported February 14.

Karina's mother and father died as the family tried to flee its village in the besieged northern region of Chernihiv in the early stages of the conflict.

An explosion -- potentially caused by a land mine or a shell -- killed her parents and catapulted Karina out of the car they were in.

"She had a concussion because she flew out the window," said Karina's aunt Ruslana Nosenko, 22.

"On her back... the burns were dark, dark blue. They have not healed completely," said Nosenko, who took Karina in after she had been treated in hospital in Chernihiv.

"Physically, I think she was very, very lucky, but psychologically she suffered a lot."

'Psychological consequences'

Over 100,000 children lived in Ukraine's institutional orphanages before the war -- the largest number in Europe after Russia.

Now, authorities are looking to place more children in foster homes and with families, providing financial incentives for carers.

Despite moves to make adoption easier, however, the process still involves too many hurdles for Nosenko.

"You need to have an official income, unlike mine," said Nosenko, who studies in Kyiv and has a child of her own.

"I simply couldn't process the adoption, and at this stage I can't process it either, because I'm a student."

At their Kyiv apartment, Karina practices playing the keyboard for Nosenko, who acts as the girl's guardian in lieu of adoption.

A month after the incident, Karina was reunited with her aunt, who broke the news of her parents' death to the girl.

"She was very nervous. She cried a lot," Nosenko said, recalling how Karina would wake up in the night sobbing.

Nosenko took Karina to a psychologist, who encouraged her to write letters to her parents to work through the trauma.

Protecting children from the "psychological consequences" of the war has become a challenge, according to Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska, who has campaigned on the issue.

The horrors of war meant "a large number of our children, like adults, have anxiety disorders", Zelenska said.

Legacy of violence

Ukrainian armed forces found the corpse of Nazar Gavrilyuk's father when they retook Bucha from occupying Russian forces, along with the bodies of scores of other civilians.

"It was my brother's friend; he went into the yard and saw three bodies," said the 18-year-old from his home in the town, just outside Kyiv, where Russian forces are accused of war crimes.

Like Karina, Gavrilyuk found a new home with a family member -- his grandmother -- after losing his father.

"When I came back here, the whole street was bombed out," recounted Gavrilyuk, after sheltering in west Ukraine during Russia's capture of Bucha.

"I walked down the street, and there were dead people lying on it, two in a ditch and another dead person further down."

His own father was found on the ground next to Gavrilyuk's uncle and another "unknown person" from neighbouring Irpin.

"His teeth were knocked out; maybe they were beaten. We don't know anything," his grandmother Olga Gavrilyuk said, pulling up a photo of her son's corpse on her phone.

The Russian soldiers in Bucha quickly lost hope of taking Kyiv in a matter of days and of defeating Ukraine, Nazar Gavrilyuk said.

"And so they went after peaceful people."