A translator in the European Parliament began weeping while recounting the story of an 11-year-old Ukrainian boy whose mum died in a Russian missile strike.
Roman Oleksiv was just seven when he and his mother went for a medical checkup at Vinnytsya, far from the frontlines of the war, on July 14, 2022.
A Russian warship in the Black Sea fired three cruise missiles into the city, killing his mother, Halyna, and leaving him with burns across his body.
He suffered 45% internal and 35% external burns, broken arms, severed muscles and several shrapnel wounds. His mum died instantly.
‘I saw her under the debris, and I could see her hair,’ Roman recalled. ‘I was able to touch her hair, and I could say goodbye to her.’
Roman told his story after a screening at the European Parliament about the Ukrainian children injured in Russia’s bloody war.
While telling how Roman went on to study dancing and music after undergoing 36 operations and rehabilitation, the woman had to pause and wipe away her tears.
Roman finished, saying: ‘I want to tell you that when we’re together, we’re strong and you have to never, ever give up.
‘We have to continue helping Ukrainian children.’
After being severely injured in the missile strike, Roman was transported to Lviv, Ukraine, then to Poland and Germany for further treatment.
After his years-long ordeal, the young boy is back dancing and attending music school – taking after his mum, who was an accordionist and teacher.
Roman told RFE: ‘Physically, you have to put in effort on the accordion and you have to think the same way, because your right hand has to think what to play, and at the same time you pull so that there is sound, so that the air flows.’
The story of his tragedy and recovery prompted a film about his life, which was shown to Pope Francis before his death.
Thousands of Ukrainian children have been killed and kidnapped since the beginning of Russia’s illegal war.
At least 20,000 children were ripped away from their everyday lives and taken to foreign countries where they have been tortured, denied food and any contact with their loved ones.
Russia has been accused of the largest state-sponsored kidnapping of children in modern history, but the figure is feared to be much higher.
Maria Lvova-Belova, Russian commissioner for children’s rights, even boasted that the state has ‘evacuated’ 300,000 Ukrainian kids from their bombed-out homes in 2023.
Putin’s forces went so far as to target orphanages, meaning many children are facing brutal Russian indoctrination without anyone back home searching for them.
Only 300 of the kidnapped children have been returned, and there are few signs this number will grow.
