Fuck Putin
The most heartrending thing I have ever seen
A child without parents, stumbling on a freezing Ukrainian street
Please don’t look away. You have to see this.
I’m watching cable news, it’s midday, reporters are covering Putin’s war. The camera focuses on a child in the middle distance.
He’s probably three.
It’s cold so someone has dressed him appropriately. His little hat is still on his head. He’s completely clothed, all you can see is his face. His clear blue eyes are wide and staring. Whomever took the footage kneels down -now they’re at eye level with this lost child.
His face is bruised and bloody. A red smear covers one pink cheek, dirt clumps across his forehead, under his neck. You can see his mouth is trembling. He’s stumbling forward towards the camera. But he’s not looking where he’s going. His eyes are hollow, unfocused. He’s putting one foot in front of the other, the way small children do, clumsily, half walk, half stumble. He’s clearly in shock. He’s moving because he has nothing else to do. He’s crying but I can’t see any tears, his face is twisted in sorrow.
He’s alone.
There are very few people on the broken road. Two old women, heads tied up with…
