Ukraine, war and insecurity affect population decline

2024-11-28 16:07:36, Kosova & Bota CNA

Ukraine's population has been shrinking for the past 30 years, and officials say the decline has accelerated as a result of the war with Russia. Voice of America correspondent Anna Chernikova brings us details from Kiev.

Nina Marynenko and Artem Marynenko live in Kiev with their two dogs. They married in November 2022, nine months after Russia's aggression against Ukraine. They dream of becoming parents, but say that the uncertainty and dangers that war brings are obstacles to having children.

"The context of war makes you think about something else. The thoughts focus on how I imagined pregnancy in peacetime and how it would go during wartime. This is something that hinders me".

Nina says she is worried about security, but also about living conditions in Ukraine.

"I'm already at that stage of life when I'm ready to have a child, but the war is an important factor that prevents this," she tells the Voice of America.

Ukraine's government says the country's birth rate has dropped by 30 percent during the war, from 130,000 babies born in 2021 to 86,000 in the same period from early 2023 to early 2024.

The deputy director of the Institute of Demography and Social Studies of Ukraine, Oleksandr Hladun, told VOA that the country's population at the beginning of 2022 was 42 million. This year, he says, it is down to 35 million.

"The forecast for the demographic situation made by our institute is quite pessimistic. Maybe after 15 years we will have 10 million less people. We are making different predictions, based on different scenarios", he says.

Hladun says the Ukrainian government must address the issue urgently. He cites economic insecurity as the main issue preventing couples from having children.

To address the problem, the Ukrainian government adopted this year a Demographic Development Strategy, a plan to improve economic and social conditions.

It aims to increase the birth rate, reduce infant mortality and encourage the return of Ukrainians who fled to other countries during the war.

Tetiana Narytnyk, a doctor at one of Kyiv's main maternity hospitals, says many of her patients are now internally displaced persons.

"These women have some complications during pregnancy due to stress factors. Also, many women did not have the opportunity to visit a doctor, to be checked by a doctor and undergo certain examinations and consultations", she says.

Anastasia recently gave birth to Olivia. With her husband and eldest son, Anastasia, who declined to give her full name, escaped Russian aggression in the Luhansk region in March 2022. A second child was the family's longtime dream. Anastasia chose not to wait.