Surrogate babies wait for parents in makeshift bomb shelter in Kyiv as war rages

At least 20 babies born to surrogate mothers are waiting for their foreign parents to be able to travel to Kyiv in order to pick them up from the makeshift bomb shelter they are staying in.

Some of the babies- whose parents live across Europe, Latin America and China- are only a few days old.

Even below ground, the blasts of shelling can be heard clearly, as Ukrainian troops have been trying to resist Russian forces in Kyiv's suburbs who intend to encircle the strategically vital capital.

Many of the surrogacy centre's nurses are also stranded in the shelter because it is too dangerous to travel to and from their homes.

“Now we are staying here to preserve our and the babies’ lives,” said Lyudmilia Yashchenko, a 51-year-old nurse.

“We are hiding here from the bombing and this horrible misery.”

“We are almost not sleeping at all,” Ms Yashchenko, who said nurses dare only briefly leave the basement during the day to get some fresh air, added.

While there is plenty of food and baby supplies, the nurses are left to hope the infants will eventually be picked up- just as they wait for the war to end.

On Saturday, the Ukrainian prosecutor general's office said that 112 children had been killed so far in the invasion, which has been raging for more than three weeks. This death toll could not be verified.

Kyiv has been among the Ukrainian areas targeted by Russian forces, seeing devastating attacks on apartment blocks, along with other civilian sites.

Emergency services said that one person was killed and four injured after parts of a Russian missile fell on a residential building in the northern part of the capital on Friday.

Another 19 people were hurt in the shelling and 98 were evacuated.

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