Tvorchi, the duo representing Ukraine at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, have launched a fundraiser for equipment to help Ukrainian babies born prematurely due to war stressors.
The fundraiser is in partnership with Visa and United24, an official fundraising platform launched by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
According to United24, “because of the war, the number of such newborns has increased by at least 15% and behind this figure there are thousands of vulnerable children who were born prematurely and cannot survive without special assistance.”
During the Eurovision opening ceremony on Sunday in the English city of Liverpool, the duo wore costumes with the names and weights of Ukrainian babies born prematurely displayed on their jackets.
“Sofia, 1340 grams. Marichka, 804.6 grams. Nikita, 1280 grams. Alice, 1600 grams. Denis, 900 grams...These names and weights are displayed on our costumes, that we wore on the turquoise Eurovision runway,” they said in an Instagram post Monday. “They belong to children who were born in Ukraine during the war, very tiny. More often, because their mothers experienced stress during pregnancy due to explosions, shelling and a constant sense of threat. “These babies survived — their little hearts were saved by intensive care incubators.”
The goal of the initiative is to attract international support to raise nearly $270,000 to buy 10 incubators for Ukrainian infants, according to the United24 website.
Eurovision is traditionally hosted by the defending champion's country. Ukraine won the contest in 2022 but cannot host it due to the ongoing conflict. The theme of Eurovision 2023 is "United by music" with the first semifinals to start on May 9.
Ukrainian air defenses destroyed about 15 cruise missiles launched by Russia in the airspace over Kyiv in the early hours of Tuesday, a Ukrainian military official said.
In a Telegram post, Serhiy Popko, head of the city's military administration, said preliminary information indicated there were no casualties and little damage caused.
“In the Holosiiv district, a fire broke out in the yard of a private house as a result of falling debris and the removal of debris on the road in the Shevchenkiv district,” he said. “The launched cruise missiles, most notably of the X-101 (X-555) type, did not reach their targets. The anti-aircraft defense of the capital worked perfectly again!"
Popko said the attack was "carried out by four Tu-95MS strategic bombers from the Caspian Sea region,” in the fifth air assault launched by Russia against Kyiv since the beginning of May.
Some context: The intercepted attacks Tuesday come after Kyiv's mayor said Russian strikes early Monday marked Moscow's "most massive" drone attack on the capital since the invasion began last year. The Ukrainian military has warned that Russia is trying to wear down Ukraine's air defenses ahead of an anticipated counteroffensive.