Walking out of the hospital, newborn in tow, brings Olesya Ostafieva a feeling she hasn’t felt in a while.

“I feel so happy,” Ostafieva said.

It’s that happiness she traveled halfway around the world for, escaping her war-torn country of Ukraine, all for baby Kira.

What You Need To Know

  • Ostafieva spent four days in a bomb shelter in Kyiv at nine months pregnant, before driving four days to Poland to escape the attacks

  • She landed at John F. Kennedy Airport on March 8 and gave birth in New York City two and a half weeks later

  • Ostafieva says their story will become “a family legend in the future”

“I don’t want her to feel like she’s a child of the war,” she said.

But in reality, Kira is.

Ostafieva was nine months pregnant when Russia started bombing her home city of Kyiv.

She spent four days in a bomb shelter, then drove four days with her dog, Casper, to Poland to escape the attacks.

From there, she got on a 10-hour flight to New York, where her longtime friend, Anna Arima, was waiting.

Her New York home is Ostafieva’s too, at least for now.

“It’s our privilege that we can make her as comfortable as possible, given the circumstances,” Arima said.

That included comforting Ostafieva when she went into labor, two and a half weeks after arriving.

“When she had the contractions and was like, ‘Wah, wah!’ I was like, ‘Let’s sing,’” Arima said. “So we started to sing a Ukrainian song together.”

It took only 19 minutes for Kira to arrive.

Arima was there to cut the umbilical cord.

“I was afraid,” Arima said. “But they said, ‘Let’s do it, do it, do it.’”

Among all the joy of the moment, there was also the horror of war.

Reality set it minutes after Kira was born, when Ostafieva called her parents to tell them the news, but they didn’t pick up.

“The day she was born, two bombs attacked the house of my parents,” Ostafieva said.

Her parents are safe.

They live in Donetsk, and the bombs knocked out electricity, internet and any way of communicating.

A few days later they found WiFi.

They now FaceTime every day from Ostafieva’s “New York home,” where she and baby Kira were given a warm welcome home thanks to a 10-year-old and her mom – who are also staying with Arima after fleeing Kyiv – who decorated their room ahead of their return.

After opening up her home to so many, Arima said she is just happy to be able to help.

“Just to care, just to hug, just to support. I just fall in love with New York again because all of these amazing angels who were always around,” she said, referencing the doctors who helped.

“It will be a family legend in the future, how we get here, and all our story,” Ostafieva said.

Despite everything Ostafieva’s gone through to get here, when she looks into her daughter’s eyes, all she sees is hope.

“A lot of happy, a lot of wonder,” said Ostafieva.

She sees hope for their future, too.

“All our close friends waiting for us in Kyiv, and our dog waiting for her!” Ostafieva said.

Her dog and sister – now in Poland – and her friends in Kyiv, waiting to welcome Kira to her real home in Ukraine, where she’ll one day learn this story and the true meaning of her name.

“Strong woman,” Ostafieva laughed. “Yeah, strong woman.”