Newborn infants from the neonatal intensive care unit at a children’s hospital in Dnipro, in eastern Ukraine, were moved into a makeshift bomb shelter on a lower level of the building on Thursday.

“This is the NICU. In a bomb shelter. Can you imagine?” Dr Denis Surkov, chief of the neonatal unit, at Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Children’s Clinical Hospital, told the Times in a WhatsApp message. “This is our reality.”

In a video provided by Dr Surkov, 51, and filmed by his colleague, some infants are seen laid out in rows and wrapped in blankets, with others cradled by hospital staff.

Dnipro was the target of missile strikes as Russia’s invasion of the country began early Thursday morning.

“We were nervous, very confused,” Dr Surkov said.

Medical train

Poland is preparing a medical train to transport Ukrainians wounded in Russia’s assault on its neighbour, the country’s health ministry said, adding that Polish hospitals were ready to receive thousands of patients.