A Ukrainian girl sought to lift spirits in a bomb shelter by playing her violin as shells rained down over the country.
The breathtaking performance was captured on video posted to Twitter by Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) on Monday.
The violinist, who was not named, is seen standing before a group of refugees playing composer Mykola Lysenko’s “Nich yaka misiachna”, which translates to “What a moonlit night”.
The MFA did not specify where the video was recorded but it was posted after the Russian army unleashed heavy shelling over the town of Irpin, a suburb of Kyiv, as desperate families tried to flee on Sunday.
At least eight civilians were killed, including a woman, her teenage son and primary school-age daughter and a family friend, according to Irpin mayor Oleksandr Markushyn.
Mr Markushyn said he witnessed four people being killed “in front of my eyes”.
The shelling was so severe that families were rendered unable to evacuate and forced instead into underground bunkers like the one seen in the MFA’s video.
“Unfortunately, unless there is a ceasefire, we cannot evacuate,” Kyiv’s military commander Oleksiy Kuleba said. “There is fire on residential buildings, civilians. The invader is preventing evacuations.”
In a video address Sunday night, Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky vowed to find and punish “every b*****d” responsible for the attack.
“They were just trying to get out of town. To escape. The whole family. How many such families have died in Ukraine,” he said.
“We will not forgive. We will not forget. We will punish everyone who committed atrocities in this war. On our land.
“We will find every b*****d.”
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