I saw this little girl in Kyiv. It was a few weeks ago, I think. Possibly longer. But I remember her. So distinctive. Her eyes and her hair as bright as her hopes and dreams for the future. A future that would never come; and one denied to her by Russia’s so-called war to “free” Ukraine.
Perhaps if you live in Kyiv you’ve seen her too?
Close your eyes and just think for a moment. Chances are you will have walked past or glanced upon other children and ordinary people who are now the lost lights of Ukraine.
This little girl’s name was Polina and she attended 4th grade at School No. 24 in Kyiv. To me she’s now the equivalent of “the girl in the red coat” – a 1993 movie reference that many will immediately understand.
According to Kyiv’s local authority, Polina and her parents were shot dead on Feb. 26 by a Russian sabotage and reconnaissance group on a street in the north-west of the capital. She was with her family when their car came under fire.
Polina’s brother and sister were taken to hospital.
Sadly, many people who ought to have seen Polina have not.
That includes every Russian citizen who doesn’t hear the truth; every Russian police officer; every member of Vladimir Putin’s inner circle; and every Russian soldier fighting on the streets of Ukraine to supposedly “liberate” the country. From what? From whom?
Videos (admittedly unverified) have been circulating of captured and confused Russian soldiers on their cell phones talking to their commanders saying “we didn’t find any neo-nazis” and that they just want to go home. Understandable. Does Polina look like a neo-nazi to you?
Some of those Russian troops are supposedly becoming increasingly disoriented by this barbaric war, because – truth be told – they don’t know why they’re fighting it. And this is one reason among many that things are going Ukraine’s way and why Russian President Vladimir Putin is reported to be fuming in his lair.
The Kyiv authorities should project images of Kyiv’s lost children into the night sky across the city.
Let their eyes gaze down on the columns of Russian war machines and confront every attacking soldier with the cowardice and inhumanity of the cause they serve.
Let these soldiers question what they’re fighting for and in whose name. Let it slow them and further disorientate them.
In Polina’s name – Glory to Ukraine.
