As the country spirals into a demographic disaster, Ukrainian authorities face a quandary: who will be left to pick up the pieces once the war ends?
From: Reuters By Max Hunder
HOSHCHA, Ukraine – While many Ukrainian hospitals are struggling to cope with the endless influx of wounded, a maternity ward in the western town of Hoshcha lies eerily deserted.
The hospital in Hoshcha has recorded just 139 births so far this year, down from 164 in 2024, and a far cry from just over a decade ago when more than 400 babies were born every year, according to local authorities.
“Many young men have died,” gynaecologist Yevhen Hekkel lamented in his office. “Young men who, bluntly speaking, were supposed to replenish Ukraine’s gene pool.”
Authorities are wrestling with a crucial question as Ukraine barrels towards a demographic disaster: Once the war ends, who will be left to rebuild the shattered country?
Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and wounded in almost four years of fighting, while millions more have fled the country and births are drying up.
Voice of Ukraine 