Cork voluntary group warns Ukrainian orphans 'will die from extreme temperatures'

May 2022: In the courtyard of their house, Vlad Tanyuk, 6, stands near the grave of his mother Maryna Tanyuk, who died because of starvation and stress due to the war, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine. Picture: AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd/Serhii Myhalchuk

A Cork-based voluntary group is scrambling to help hundreds of orphaned children in Ukraine.

The children are in the previously safe town of Chervonorad in western Ukraine, which has recently come under bombardment by the Russians.

It had been relatively unscathed by the Russian attacks early in the invasion. However, this has changed with a recent escalation in the invaders’ bombardment of the area. 

This has cut power supplies, making enduring freezing temperatures at this time even harsher and the children particularly vulnerable.

Orphans from the previously targeted areas by Russia, in the south and east of the country, were sent there — somewhat reminiscent of the children of London shifted to rural areas for their safety prior to the 1940 German blitz on the city.

Unaccompanied children, many of them orphans, made up a large proportion of the new arrivals in Chervonograd.

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The 4Ukraine group, based in Glanmire, has previously gathered and sent medical aid and warm clothing to help vulnerable people un Ukraine and is now turning its focus to these children.

John Gilroy, the driving force behind 4Ukraine said many people arriving there have absolutely no possessions — apart from the clothes they were wearing.

“People are living wherever they can find shelter; often 10 to 15 per room.

Freezing temperatures, lack of shelter, electricity cuts, and food shortages are creating a humanitarian disaster there.

“4Ukraine has already sent some humanitarian aid to the town, but much more is needed. More refugees are arriving there as the fighting escalates. People, including the young children, will die from the extreme temperatures,” Mr Gilroy said.

Former senator and Glanmire-based nurse John Gilroy, who is the driving force behind 4Ukraine, said: 'People, including the young children, will die from the extreme temperatures.'

The Glanmire-based psychiatric nurse, who is a former senator, established the voluntary group last year and it’s already sent three articulated trucks laden with humanitarian aid to the war-torn country, including crutches, walking frames, wheelchairs, medical boots, winter clothing, and generators.

Last month, Mr Gilroy was contacted by a Kate Williams, who runs the Midleton-based Kalyna. It's a group which supports Ukrainian refugees in East Cork.

She had been in touch with a woman who fled to Cork in the early days of the invasion, but who’s gone back to the Ukraine town where the orphans are now staying.

Mr Gilroy rang the woman but described how the conversation was cut short as she described when the air raid sirens were going off and the town was under attack by drones.

“It’s scarcely believable to think this is happening in this day and age. They’re scenes we associate with World War Two,” Mr Gilroy said.

His volunteers are now preparing to send a consignment of aid to the orphans in the town shortly.

“We urgently need generators, non-perishable food, and clothes for babies and those up to juvenile age. We’re appealing to the general public to continue their generous support of our campaign to supply those in Chervonograd,” Mr Gilroy said.

People can help by contacting the volunteers' GoFundMe page, the group's Facebook page 4Ukraine.