Liza, a 4-year-old Ukrainian girl, died on Thursday in a strike in Vinnytsia. Credit … Efrem Lukatsky / Associated Press
Iryna Dmytriyeva posted a video of her 4-year-old daughter, Liza, wearing green sneakers and happily pushing a pink stroller on Thursday morning as they walked through the central Ukrainian city of Vinnytsia. Shortly afterwards, they attacked Russian missiles.
Ukrainian officials confirmed on Friday that Liza was among the 23 people killed on Thursday in a Russian attack that left her mother in critical condition, as images of her lives and her last moments on social media captured world attention and hit the too familiar drum of daily violence. in the nearly five-month war in Moscow.
Mrs. Dmytriyeva and her daughter had an appointment that morning with a speech therapist who had taught Liza, who had Down syndrome, how to pronounce her first words. Shortly after Mrs. Dmytriyeva posted the video on Instagram, a Russian missile dump hit the heart of the city, crashing into a mall, a dance studio and a center for children with neurological disabilities.
Photos shared online by the State Emergency Service of Ukraine and verified by the New York Times appeared to show Liza’s lifeless body next to the dumped stroller, which was splattered with blood.
VideoCreditCredit … Instagram / lizilove
A spokesman for the Ukrainian Security Service in Vinnytsia, Denys Zakabluk, confirmed in a telephone interview that Liza had died.
When Ms. Dmytriyeva was recovering in a hospital – among the 80 people who were treated for the wounds of the attack, Ukrainian officials said – her story and the bond with her daughter, carefully narrated on her own from Instagram, served as scorching reminders of the toll that indiscriminate Russian attacks are demanding against Ukrainian civilians.
Mrs. Dmytriyeva’s Instagram feed was a testament to her love for Liza, tracked through posts that showed milestones, struggles, and words of encouragement for other parents.
“You have to educate yourself. The more resources the parents have, the more the child will receive,” he wrote in a post the day before the attack. “Make your own dreams come true!”
Mrs. Dmytriyeva moved with Liza from the capital, Kyiv, to Vinnytsia earlier this year and enrolled her in speech therapy classes at a center called Logoclub. Always smiling, Liza earned the nickname “Sunny Flower” in the center, said her therapist, Alyona Korol, in an interview.
When news of the Russian attack resounded around the world on Thursday, Ms Korol said she noticed a pair of familiar green slippers in the photos of the scene.
“When I saw these shoes, I recognized them,” Ms. Korol said. “I knew it was our Liza.”
Liza DmytriyevaCredit … Logoclub Children’s Center, via Reuters
Images of the slippers and the stroller, which began circulating on social media in the hours following the attack, were presented by Ukrainian leaders as an example of Russia’s contempt for civilian life.
Ukraine’s first lady, Olena Zelenska, said on Friday in a Twitter post that she recognized Liza from a Christmas video she had filmed with children in 2021. “The girl managed to paint with dye not only herself , her dress, but also all the other kids, me, the camera and the director in just half an hour, ”she wrote, sharing the video. “Look at her, alive, please.”
President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his afternoon speech, “The boy was four years old!” and accused Russia of a litany of atrocities.
“No other state in the world is allowed to destroy peaceful cities and normal human life with cruise missiles and rocket artillery every day,” he said.
Flowers and toys in Vinnytsia on Friday, at the site where Liza was killed. Credit … Valentyn Ogirenko / Reuters
Russia has claimed that it only strikes places of military value, although some, such as Vinnytsia, are located hundreds of kilometers from the front lines in eastern and southern Ukraine. In a statement on Friday, Russia’s Defense Ministry said it had attacked an office building in Vinnytsia where members of the Ukrainian Armed Forces were meeting with “representatives of foreign arms suppliers,” adding that the attack led to “the elimination of conference participants.” “Your account could not be verified.
On Friday, people placed flowers and a teddy bear at the spot where Liza was killed. A rage of pain filled social media. A support group that helps connect families of children with Down syndrome posted updates on Ms. Dmytriyeva’s status on Facebook and a link to a fundraiser for the family.
“Today, our hearts bleed and our eyes are full of tears, because our family of thousands of people has lost one of their own,” the publication read. “They were in the wrong place at the wrong time.”