Post from Donetsk today, about the killing of children in the U.S.-Ukraine war on Donbass. We protested for justice for Vladik and other child victims here in New York and around the world:
Remember the boy, whose name was Vladik Dmitriev. He was four years old when a grenade dropped from a Ukrainian drone tore him apart [in early 2021 -- one year before Russia's military intervention]. Then I had to "persuade" the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) mission for a long time to go to the place where the child died. They arrived a week later (I have kept all the correspondence).
The reason was that the Ukrainian media and some "actors" of the humanitarian persuasion assured them that the boy was not there. Then they assured that since the boy had died, that was certainly because his grandparents kept grenades in the yard. Therefore, I had to send a birth certificate of the child, then a certificate of death and the causes of death. Then photographs of a small funnel with fragments spreading 360 degrees. Then I had to write that his grandfather had to "bury" a fragment of his grandson's hand, which he found in the firewood after the funeral.
It was only after that that they arrived. Then they wrote for a long time ... I even had to explain to them that Vlad's parents had an audio recording of a conversation with the OSCE mission staff.
This boy's death was not convenient. They tried to ignore it. But, fortunately, there were those in the institutions of European power that did not allow this.
Back then I met Vladik's parents, Katya and Sergey. They are very bright guys. Sergei was a metallurgist, and Katya was a kindergarten teacher. I know that she could not work there after the death of her son: the children reminded her of her son.
Today it was Katya who responded to the death of eight-year-old Nikita [killed by a Ukrainian strike on Donetsk on March 11, 2023]. She wrote, "I would really like to give his mother strength and patience. I would like to show her how close her pain is and that there are people for whom this is not just a roundup of news, but a part of life. Anyone who once faced the loss of a child knows that it will no longer be the same as before, that life is just a physical state. Mentally and in this comment, I send her strength, stamina and faith in myself and in God. Faith that we will meet with them, and this separation is not eternal. "To live in the name of the memory of my child was once the only clue for me in this life. Dear girl (I'm sorry I don't know your name), I'm with you with all my heart and soul and our children are always with us, no matter what happens.
"I keep photos of Vladik. Today I received a photo of Nikita. He is happy on it, next to the pool. It turns out that he was taken out for several weeks on vacation last fall. The woman who received Nikita was crying when she spoke to me. Today she has other children next to her, "the same as Nikita.”
Thanks to Katia Osminogova for sharing the link.
Translation by Melinda Butterfield
