VINNYTSIA, Ukraine –
Beautiful and serene in a crown of white flowers, four-year-old Liza, who was killed in a Russian missile attack, was buried Sunday in central Ukraine as an Orthodox priest broke down in tears, telling relatives that “the evil can’t win.”
Liza, who had Down syndrome, was on her way to see a speech therapist with her mother when Russian missiles fell on the city of Vinnytsia, far from the front lines, on Thursday. At least 24 people were killed, including Liza and two children aged seven and eight, and more than 200 were injured, including Liza’s mother.
“Look, my flower! Look how many people came to you,” said Liza’s grandmother, Larysa Dmytryshyna, caressing Liza as she lay in an open coffin with flowers and teddy bears at the 18th-century Transfiguration Cathedral in Vinnytsia.
Liza’s father, Artem Dmytriev, remained silent, tears streaming down his face.
Liza’s mother, Iryna Dmytrieva, 33, remained in an intensive care unit in serious condition. Her family did not tell her that Liza would be buried on Sunday for fear that it might affect her condition.
“Your mommy didn’t even see how beautiful you are today,” said Dmytryshyna, crying.
Helena Sydorenko, a longtime family friend, said that Liza’s mother “put a lot of effort into socializing Liza.”
“She wanted her son to have a full life,” Sydorenko added.
When the war began, Dmytrieva and her family fled Kyiv, the capital, for Vinnytsia, a city 270 kilometers (167 miles) to the southwest that until Thursday was considered relatively safe.
Shortly before the explosion, Dmytrieva had posted a video on social media showing her daughter straining to reach the handlebars to push her own stroller, walking happily through Vinnytsia, dressed in a denim jacket and white pants, her hair adorned. with a pin
After the Russian missile attack, Ukraine’s emergency services shared photos showing her lifeless body on the ground next to her bloodstained pram. The first lady of Ukraine recalled how cheerful and happy her little girl was when she met her. Videos and photos have gone viral, the latest footage from the brutal war in Ukraine to horrify the world.
Liza’s closest relatives sat on either side of the coffin, and many more packed Vinnytsia’s Orthodox Cathedral to pay their last respects to the girl.
“I didn’t know Liza, but no one can calmly go through this,” Orthodox priest Vitalii Holoskevych said, breaking down in tears. “Because each burial is a duel for each one of us. We are losing our brothers and sisters.”
He paused and continued in a trembling voice: “We know that evil cannot win.”
Later, in a windswept graveyard, family and friends say goodbye to Liza under gray skies.
“You loved this song very much, you danced every day. This song sounds familiar to you now,” said Dmytrushyna, Liza’s grandmother.
The song was “Oh, the Red Viburnum in the Meadow”, which has become a symbol of resistance in Ukraine after the Russian invasion.
“It is suffering and despair. There is no forgiveness for them,” said Ilona, another family friend.
A seven-year-old boy killed in the same Russian airstrike was also buried Sunday along with his mother in a village near Vinnytsia. They were in a medical center when the missiles hit the building. Another child killed in the same airstrike will be buried in Vinnytsia on Monday.