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Nine killed as Russian drone strikes minibus in Ukraine’s Sumy region

7 hours ago

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Russia launched an overnight wave of drone attacks across Ukraine, damaging homes and sparking fires, according to Ukrainian officials. Russian drone strikes damaged residential buildings in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region, according to Governor Serhiy Lysak. About 10 private homes, as well as several shops and vehicles, were damaged, and a cultural center was partially destroyed, he said. In the Ivano-Frankivsk region, a fire broke out at “one of the facilities in the region” following a drone strike, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service reported . Firefighters extinguished the blaze, and no injuries were reported. In the Sumy region, a drone strike hit civilian infrastructure in a village, igniting a fire, local authorities said . No casualties were reported. Officials in the Kyiv region and in the city of Lutsk , in the Volyn region, also reported repelling drone attacks. No injuries were reported in either location. Ukraine’s Air Force said Russian forces launched 110 drones overnight, including both attack drones and decoy drones. Of those, 62 were shot down, and 29 others crashed before reaching their targets. The wave of drone strikes came ahead of Russia and Ukraine’s first direct negotiations since 2022, taking place Thursday in Istanbul.…

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‘The memory can haunt them for life’. Ukrainian psychologist Elina Bytyuk explains how war affects children

3 days ago

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Natalya and her five-year-old daughter Solomiya shelter in a subway station during an air raid . Kyiv, March 29, 2023. On April 4, 2025, a Russian missile strike on the city of Krivyi Rih killed nine children, most of whom were playing in a park. The U.N. Human Rights Office said the attack, which killed 20 people in total, was the deadliest single strike to claim children’s lives that it had verified since Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The U.N. has recorded more than 2,500 child casualties but notes the actual toll is likely far higher, particularly when considering the scale of damage to children’s mental health and well-being. The psychological toll on Ukrainian children is even more widespread. To understand the war’s impact on children, Meduza spoke with Elina Bytyuk , a psychologist at the Dnipro-based nonprofit Children New Generation . Children New Generation helps evacuate, shelter, and provide food kits to thousands of displaced families in eastern Ukraine. It also works with a number of international organizations, including the Let’s Help initiative , a fundraiser for Ukrainian civilians Meduza launched in partnership with Helpdesk Media and TV Rain. Elina Bytyuk, psychologist As the war enters its fourth year, it continues to take a devastating toll on Ukrainian children, disrupting every aspect of their lives. A study by Save the Children found that 73 percent of school-aged children in Ukraine felt unsafe or fearful. Nearly two-thirds had lost interest in learning. UNICEF estimated that children in Ukraine’s frontline cities spent 3,000 to 5,000 hours sheltering underground in the war’s first two years — the equivalent of four to seven months. The war has also disrupted education , forcing some 700,000 children to study online while another million are in blended learning. Air raid alerts and power outages regularly derail school and daily life. According to the U.N., more than 2,500 children have been killed or injured in Ukraine since February 2022. The U.N. Human Rights Office reported that April 2025 saw the highest verified monthly number of child casualties since June 2022, with at least 19 children killed and 78 injured. Russia also stands accused of forcibly deporting tens of thousands of Ukrainian children. Friends of 17-year-old Danylo Khudia wait as rescue workers search for him under the rubble after a Russian missile hit an apartment building in Kyiv. The attack killed 13 people, including Danylo and his parents. April 24, 2025. Ukrainian children and teenagers — exposed to death, destruction, displacement, and deprivation — are at heightened risk of mental health issues, including complex PTSD , which often requires more long-term, intensive treatment than post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from a single event. “If a child was [in a shelter] during bombardment, the memory of these events can haunt them for the rest of their life,” says Elina Bytyuk, a psychologist with Children New Generation , a Dnipro-based nonprofit organization that helps displaced families in eastern Ukraine. Children who live farther away from the front are also affected, with regular air raid sirens and fears of the next Russian attack leaving them in a constant state of uncertainty. “When a person is in a prolonged state of uncertainty, the ‘fight, flee, or freeze’ defense mechanism is also activated. And if this mechanism is activated for a long time, it may subsequently lead to depression,” Bytyuk explains. Bytyuk’s own family has been displaced not once but twice. After war broke out in eastern Ukraine in 2014, she fled Donetsk for the nearby town of Hirnyk. Then, after Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, she and her family moved to Dnipro. “I’m a displaced person myself and understand the anxieties [parents have],” she says. “My 16-year-old son struggled to come to terms with our new life.” A teenager at a shelter for displaced persons run by the humanitarian organization Stay Safe UA. Druzhkivka, Donetsk region. September 24, 2024. Like other psychologists working with Children New Generation, Bytyuk works with children and parents alike. “A child’s primary defense and basic foundation is family. This is his source of support,” she says. “And if dad’s gone to the front and mom got sick due to stress, then the child may develop a feeling of internal isolation from everything.” According to Vasyl Lutsyk, the head of Ukraine’s National Social Service, Russia’s war had deprived more than 13,000 children in Ukraine of parental care as of last March. This figure included nearly 1,800 children left orphaned, as well as hundreds whose parents reside in the occupied territories and about a dozen whose parents are in Russian captivity, Lutsyk said. Wartime immigration has also torn many families apart: some 6.9 million refugees have fled Ukraine since February 2022, most of whom are women and children. Another 3.7 million people are internally displaced. As Bytyuk explains, the grief that comes with family separation makes coping with traumatic events even more difficult. For children who have been displaced or lost loved ones, “This sense of loss and anxiety can develop into generalized anxiety disorder or depression,” she says. A boy holds a sign that reads, “Where’s my dad? Two years in captivity” during a rally in Lviv for families of prisoners of war. March 9, 2024. At the same time, the psychologist underscores that trauma manifests itself differently in every child. While some traumatized children may appear fearful or depressed, others will become withdrawn or even aggressive. “Some children may lose their speech, others may start having temper tantrums, panic attacks, or outbursts of anger,” she explains. According to Bytyuk, both children and teenagers may experience mood swings as a result of extreme stress. And like adults suffering from PTSD, children who have experienced traumatic events may struggle with intrusive memories. “There are children who wake up at night [...] because [they have] intrusive memories, like war veterans,” she says. “It's impossible to suppress them by willpower alone.” Losing one’s home or being forced to move away is a great loss for children and a blow to their mental health. According to Bytyuk, younger children tend to adapt better to shelter life because this offers them the opportunity to interact with others and focus on play. But for adolescents, displacement may lead to a loss of sense of self, which can be detrimental to their self-esteem and overall development. “It’s easier for a younger child to transition through play and interaction with other children. Thanks to this, [they’re] more able to adapt,” Bytyuk explains. “But a teenager lives more consciously, he perceives various situations from a different angle. And if he no longer has a home, he may lose motivation to grow or engage with others.” A family with five children evacuates from Yelyzavetivka, a village in the Donetsk region that was left without electricity and running water due to active Russian shelling and drone attacks. November 14, 2024. Today, there are both local and international nonprofit groups providing psychological support for children in Ukraine, including through one-on-one sessions and group therapy. Psychologists can help children cope with both traumatic memories and ongoing threats — and teach them how to handle stress in the least destructive way possible. When it comes to treating trauma in children, Bytyuk says, “each child needs an individual approach.” However, access to trauma-focused treatments by trained mental health specialists remains limited in Ukraine. (A group of German researchers has even launched a project to train more Ukrainian therapists who are treating children.) Parental support is also crucial for helping children cope. However, many parents in Ukraine are struggling with their own mental health and need help themselves. According to Bytyuk, this is especially true of working mothers whose partners are at the front. “Much depends on the parents, including their values, how accurately they assess their own condition, and their ability to manage their own anxiety,” she explains. “[The uncertainty] is hard for parents too: they’re thinking about what they can give their child besides love and support.” A Ukrainian soldier and his family. Donetsk region. February 11, 2025. For younger children, socializing is key for helping them deal with the consequences of wartime upheavals, while older children can benefit from sports and other hobbies that help them develop, learn, and express themselves. “They need to learn to focus on the positive and try to see the good. I understand that this is difficult in wartime, but if we can’t change the situation, we just try to calmly accept it and get through it. God willing, it will work out,” Bytyuk says. “The war will affect everyone; it will just affect each family and each child differently,” she adds. “Yes, war is a great trauma. But much depends on how we face it. In any case, life goes on for each of us. It’s a question of getting up and moving forward.” HERE'S HOW YOU CAN HELP UKRAINIAN KIDS Help us support Ukrainians affected by Russia’s war A new fundraising campaign from Helpdesk, TV Rain, and Meduza Interview by Irina Olegova Summary by Eilish Hart…

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