EU Parliament interpreter couldn't hold back tears as she relayed story of 11-year-old Ukrainian boy – video

An interpreter in the European Parliament burst into tears as she was translating the story of 11-year-old Roman Oleksiv into English. Roman survived a Russian missile strike on the city of Vinnytsia in 2022. His mother was killed in the attack.

Source: Radio Liberty

Details: On 10 December, Roman was sharing what he had been through with members of the European Parliament in Brussels.

He began his speech with the following words: "Hello everyone, my name is Roman; I'm 11. I am from Ukraine, and now I live in Lviv. On 14 July 2022, my mum and I were in Vinnytsia, at a clinic. It was hit by three Russian missiles."

Roman then said that that was the last time he saw his mum and the last time he was able to say goodbye to her.

As she translated Roman's story into English, the assistant to the vice president of the European Parliament could not hold back her tears. She apologised for her emotional reaction, but she was unable to continue, and one of her colleagues took over.

On the same day, the European Parliament screened Romchyk, a short film telling the story of Roman Oleksiv, Children for Putin, an investigative film about the forced deportation of children to Russia, and the film Chile.

Background:

• On 14 July 2022, Russian forces attacked the city centre in Vinnytsia, killing 29 civilians, including three children. Among them was four-year-old Liza, who was out walking with her mother, on their way to a session with her speech therapist.
• Roman Oleksiv was with his mother, waiting for a doctor's appointment. She was killed instantly as a result of the missile strike, aged just 29. The attack also claimed the life of a medical worker.
• Roman suffered burns to 45% of his skin and damage to his internal organs. His father said that he burned his legs and buttocks when he sat down on hot stones as he crawled out.
• Doctors initially believed the boy would never walk again, but he has been able to return to school and resume ballroom dancing and playing the bayan.
• Roman has undergone at least 36 operations, and after two years he was able to remove the mask he had worn to prevent scarring on his face.

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