The twins (Lenny on the left, Moishe on the suitable) are having fun with life in Chicago now.

Alex Spektor and Irma Nuñez

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Alex Spektor and Irma Nuñez

The twins (Lenny on the left, Moishe on the suitable) are having fun with life in Chicago now.

Alex Spektor and Irma Nuñez

Welcome to a brand new NPR sequence the place we highlight the individuals and issues making headlines — and the tales behind them.

Happy birthday, Lenny and Moishe! You’ve come a good distance, infants.

Who are they? Born untimely to a surrogate mom in Kyiv simply as Russia started its assault on Ukraine, the twins went by means of a daring and unsure journey to achieve their eventual dwelling in Chicago. NPR covered the March 2022 mission to evacuate the twins from Ukraine, which was labeled Operation Gemini:

“They were too small to move in the days after they were born into a war zone. But as they grew stronger, Kyiv grew weaker. Now, they are making the run for the border with … [a] specialist evacuation team of U.S. Army veterans.

It’s a treacherous journey that will include Russian shelling, complex border crossings and a snowstorm.”

Lenny and Moishe shortly after they had been born.

Project Dynamo

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Project Dynamo

Lenny and Moishe shortly after they had been born.

Project Dynamo

What’s the large deal? The undeniable fact that the infants get to have fun their first birthday is itself a victory — each for his or her household and the individuals who managed to get them out of Kyiv.

• Their dad and mom, Alex Spektor (who was born in Kyiv) and Irma Nuñez, watched in horror as each the warfare and their surrogate’s due date approached concurrently.
• When Katya, their surrogate, went into early labor, the town wasn’t protected. But the delicate infants could not be moved out of the hospital straight away. And even when they may, the drive by means of battle zones can be a really harmful one.
• Alex and Irma reached out to army veteran Bryan Stern and his nonprofit specialist extraction crew from Florida known as Project Dynamo, which rescues individuals in warfare zones.
• The Project Dynamo crew organized a convoy to drive little Lenny and Moishe, in addition to Katya, from Kyiv to Poland. They rode with two medical doctors, two neonatal specialists, a nurse and a Ukrainian ambulance crew.
• “The ground was shaking,” Stern stated, describing the Russian shelling they encountered on their journey. “I mean, the artillery doesn’t care what it is — it’s gonna land where it lands. The artillery doesn’t say, like, ‘Oh, well, there’s babies here, so we’ll go somewhere else.'”
• But finally, the convoy made it over the border to Poland, the place their father waited. “The war didn’t want to let them go. But we got them out,” Spektor instructed NPR on the time. “They’re just tiny but amazing. Because in the photographs they look so big. Oh, my God. Insane.”

Want extra journalism on the warfare? Listen to the Consider This episode on whether sanctions are slowing down Russia’s war machine

Alex Spektor (second from left) with Bryan Stern (second from proper), with two of the individuals who helped transport the twins, shortly after they arrived in Poland in March 2022.

Project Dynamo

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Project Dynamo

Alex Spektor (second from left) with Bryan Stern (second from proper), with two of the individuals who helped transport the twins, shortly after they arrived in Poland in March 2022.

Project Dynamo

What are the dad and mom saying now (because the infants cannot discuss fairly but)?

• One 12 months later, the personalities are on show.
• Lenny is the dancer of the pair. “Watching Lenny dance is just the most joyful thing I’ve experienced in a long time,” Irma instructed NPR. 
• “Moishe is like a — I would say a little tank, if it wasn’t too close to home,” says Alex. “The little Ukrainian thing. Powerful, straightforward, very strong.” “Headstrong,” provides Irma. “He knows what he wants and he’s fearless, going after it.”

Irma with the twins.

Alex Spektor and Irma Nuñez

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Alex Spektor and Irma Nuñez

So, what now? Parenting twins leaves little time for celebration planning. But celebrating the twins’ routine lives is thrilling sufficient.

• Alex says essentially the most thrilling a part of their day as a household is usually simply wanting on the infants’ poop. 
• Irma says {that a} 12 months in the past, her foremost concern was her sons surviving in a warzone. Now she feels fortunate to fret about common parenting issues like tub time security. 
• “Irma is an amazing mom,” says Alex. “Just watching her with kids is incredible for me. And I feel safe when I see the kids with her.”
• He is aware of that not everybody will get to really feel protected proper now, particularly within the metropolis the place their sons had been born. “It’s an incredibly personal event,” he says. “Our sons are intricately connected to what’s happening in Ukraine right now.”

Alex with the twins.

Alex Spektor and Irma Nuñez

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Alex Spektor and Irma Nuñez

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Ari Shapiro contributed to this report.