Some Ukrainian soldiers freeze sperm in case they don't make it back from front lines of war with Russia

Kyiv, Ukraine — As Vitalii Khroniuk lay facedown on the ground taking cover from Russian artillery fire, the Ukrainian solider had just one regret: He had never had a child. Aware that he could die at any moment, the 29-year-old decided to try cryopreservation — the process of freezing sperm or eggs that some Ukrainian soldiers are turning to as they face the possibility that they might never go home.   "It's not scary to die, but it's scary when you don't leave anyone behind," said Khroniuk, who quickly joined the war effort without a thought about his future when Russia invaded Ukraine nearly a year ago.

During a vacation home in January, he and his partner went to a private clinic in Kyiv, IVMED, that is waiving the $55 cost of cryopreservation for soldiers. The clinic has had about 100 soldiers freeze sperm since the invasion, says its chief doctor, Halyna Strelko. Assisted conception services to get pregnant currently cost $800 to $3,500.

"We don't know how else to help. We can only make children or help make them. We don't have weapons, we can't fight, but what we do is also important," said Strelko, whose clinic had to close during the first months of the war as Kyiv was under attack but reopened after the Russian military retreated from the area.   When Khroniuk told his partner, Anna Sokurenko, 24, what he wanted to do, she initially was unsure.   "It was very painful to realize that there is a possibility that he will not return," said Sokurenko, adding that it took her a night of reflection to agree.   She and Khroniuk spoke to The Associated Press while sitting at the clinic, where posters of smiling babies, including one that reads, "Your future is securely protected," hang in the corridor. The clinic's lab has its own backup power supply that kicks in during frequent outages from Russian missile strikes damaging the electric infrastructure.