In 2012, there were approximately 521,000 babies born in Ukraine. That number began to drop after Russia forcibly annexed the Crimean Peninsula in 2014, and by 2024, two years after Russian troops invaded eastern Ukraine, there were only 177,000 babies being born annually. Reuters reports that the town of Hoshcha recorded just 139 births through early December 2025, down from more than 400 a decade earlier.
How will Ukraine, already battered from almost four years of valiant resistance against an ever more savage Russian foe, manage to rebuild when the war finally ends? Because of refugees fleeing war zones, deaths on the battlefields as well as among civilians after indiscriminate Russian attacks on everything from apartment blocks to hospitals, and disrupted pre- and post-natal care, Ukraine’s population has dropped from 42 million before the February 2022 invasion to less than 36 million now, with Ukraine’s Ministry of Justice reporting that there are 11 deaths per every birth in the eastern parts of Ukraine, where the fighting is most fierce.
No country can survive without new citizens being born to replenish those who have died from disease or old age. Add in the fact that Ukraine will be entering the fifth year of war this February 24, a conflict that has reduced the average life expectancy of a Ukrainian male to just 57.3 years, and it is easy to see why the very existence of this sovereign nation is at stake.
Over the past four years, the Ukrainian diaspora and other supporters have been raising money to supply the beleaguered country with a multitude of vital materials, including munitions, foodstuffs, medical equipment, and even portable ultrasound machines. It is items such as the last one that are at the forefront of the Notes of Hope/ Born Under Fire benefit, which will feature the internationally acclaimed Ukrainian pianist Pavlo Gintov performing works by Ukrainian composers. According to organizers, proceeds from this “Concert for Maternity Care in Ukraine” will go toward “supporting expectant mothers, children, and medical staff in Ukraine. These funds are instrumental in providing much needed supplies, medical equipment, infrastructure repairs, and expert personnel.”
Gintov will be performing works by Ukrainian composers from the past, including Dmytro Bortniansky (1751–1825), Viktor Kosenko (1896-1938), and Hanna Havrylets (1958–2022), as well as the world premiere of “Sonata no. 3 ‘February Diary,’” by Yuri Povolotsky (b.1962).
Music can be transporting, and perhaps attending a program that includes such compositions as “Mysterious Dream,” by Theodore Akimenko (1876-1945), will allow an unborn child in Ukraine to fulfill dreams of a better future, sooner rather than later. ❖
A Concert for Maternity Care in Ukraine
The Kosciuszko Foundation
15 East 65th Street
February 1, 3:00 p.m.
