Philippine mum in Ukraine tries to give baby ‘normal life’ even as war rages on

Rhea Taibova moved with her Ukrainian husband and daughter to her in-laws’ home after Russia invaded, learning later that a mall and preschool near their Kyiv home were hit

Despite high prices of food and baby milk formula, frequent power outages and daily air raid sirens, she tries to give her daughter a semblance of normality

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Rhea Taibova’s daughter, Lia, was born in Kyiv in 2021. Photo: Handout

Published: 4:00pm, 5 Mar 2023Updated: 5:32pm, 17 Apr 2023

Rhea Taibova, a Philippine migrant mother in Ukraine, shared a photo of her daughter on Facebook in December, along with the caption: “Happy 17 months, our not-so-little Lia”.

The dark-eyed toddler peeks out from under her pink bobble hat. Framed against bare trees and a two-storey house in central Ukraine, she stands alone on a snow-covered road.

The tranquillity of this photo is in sharp contrast to the graphic images that have come out of the country. Lia was just a baby when Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year and she still has no idea that her Filipino-Ukrainian parents had to move from the capital Kyiv – where she was born – to a small village in search of safety.

Rhea Taibova celebrates her birthday with her family in Ukraine in May 2022. Photo: Handout

Taibova, 31, said the beginning of the war came as a shock. She was on holiday at her in-laws’ village, about three hours by car from Kyiv, when Russia attacked Ukraine on February 24 last year.

While tens of thousands of people fled their homes, Taibova’s husband sped to the capital to pack their belongings into a truck. “We were not able to carry everything [because] we were super rushed,” she said. Later on, “a preschool five minutes away from us was hit ... and a big mall nearby was destroyed. I am just glad we weren’t there”.

They transported their belongings to the house of Taibova’s in-laws – the exact location cannot be revealed due to safety reasons.

“The first 10 days of war were really hard. I was feeling depressed and anxious,” she said. “I kept crying, but then my baby would look at me and smile. Without her, I couldn’t cope with this.”