VINYTICA, Ukraine (AP) — Beautiful and serene in a crown of white flowers, 4-year-old Lisa, who was killed by a Russian missile strike, was laid to rest Sunday in central Ukraine as an Orthodox priest broke down in tears and told weeping relatives that “evil cannot win.”
Lisa, who had Down syndrome, was on her way to see a speech therapist with her mother when Russian missiles hit the city of Vinnytsia on Thursday, far from the front line. At least 24 people were killed, including Lisa and two boys aged 7 and 8, and more than 200 were injured, including Lisa’s mother.
“Look, my flower! Look how many people have come to you,” said Lisa’s grandmother, Larisa Dmitryshina, caressing Lisa as she lay in an open casket with flowers and teddy bears in Vinnytsia’s 18th-century Transfiguration Cathedral.
Lisa’s father, Artem Dmitriev, stood silent, tears streaming down his face.
Lisa’s mother, 33-year-old Irina Dmitrieva, remains in intensive care in a serious condition. The family did not tell her that Lisa would be buried on Sunday, fearing that it might affect her condition.
“Your mother didn’t even see how beautiful you are today,” said Dmitrishina, crying.
Helena Sidorenko, a longtime family friend, said Lisa’s mother “put a lot of effort into Lisa’s socialization.”
“She wanted her child to have a full life,” Sidorenko added.
When the war began, Dmitrieva 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, Dmitrieva posted a video on social media showing her daughter straining to reach the handlebars to push her own stroller, happily strolling around Vinnytsia wearing a denim jacket and white pants, her hair decorated with barrette.
After the Russian missile strike, Ukraine’s emergency services shared photos showing her lifeless body on the ground next to her bloodied gurney. The first lady of Ukraine remembered how cheerful and happy the little girl was when she met her. Videos and photos have gone viral, the latest footage of the brutal war in Ukraine has horrified the world.
Lisa’s closest relatives sat on either side of the coffin and many others packed the Vinnytsia Orthodox Cathedral to pay their last respects to the girl.
“I didn’t know Lisa, but no one can go through this with peace of mind,” said Orthodox priest Vitaly Kholoskevich, breaking down in tears. “Because every funeral is sorrow for each 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 cemetery, relatives and friends bid farewell to Lisa under a gray sky.
“You loved this song so much, you danced every day. This song sounds for you now,” said Dmitrushina, Lisa’s grandmother.
The song was “Oh, on the red viburnum meadow”, which became a symbol of resistance in Ukraine after the Russian invasion.
“It’s suffering and despair. There is no forgiveness for them,” said another family friend, Ilona.
A 7-year-old boy killed in the same Russian airstrike was also buried Sunday with his mother in a village near Vinnytsia. They were in a medical center when the rockets hit the building. Another young boy killed in the same airstrike is due to be buried in Vinnytsia on Monday.
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