Mariya’s son died at the front: “We were so happy on Christmas Eve. And now…”
The consequences of Putin’s war of aggression are clearly visible in the cemetery in Lviv in western Ukraine. There are many here who will not have a merry Christmas this year.
– It is a brutal war and our sons are dying, says Mariya, mother of a soldier who died at the front, to the AFP news agency.
Lyubov, mother of the soldier Taras Onyskiv who died in the war, says that it used to be a tradition to get together on Christmas Eve. Then she used to bake donuts into which they stuck small notes with wishes. Then they ate the donuts and read the wishes aloud.
– We were so happy on Christmas Eve.
– And now… now I don’t know what to do. I can no longer imagine how we could have dinner together, says
“Our children are dying”
Instead of sitting at home, relatives of soldiers who died at the front have brought Christmas decorations to the cemetery where the graves of their relatives are located.
– It is a brutal war and our children are dying. Instead of having dinner with them at home, we come here, we bring Christmas porridge and donuts and mourn our sons, says Mariya, mother of another killed soldier.
In total, more than 43,000 Ukrainian soldiers have died since Putin’s invasion, according to a statement by President Volodymyr Zelensky in early December. Many Ukrainian soldiers are also prisoners of war in Russia. Today a demonstration was held with small children waiting for their fathers, women waiting for their husbands and mothers who have not heard from their children. This is reported by Euro News.
Placard with the text: “My son has been held in Russian captivity for 940 days. How much longer?” and “Help me get my son back, it’s been two and a half years” could be read, according to the news channel.