Andrey Bednyakov met with displaced children
According to the UN Children’s Fund UNICEF, 501 children have been killed since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Almost a thousand more were wounded. Unfortunately, these are only officially registered cases. Many young Ukrainians lost their homes and even their parents… and were forced to move to relatively safer places. One of these days was visited by Andriy Bednyakov, the host of the New Channel projects.
“I visited children who survived hell in the epicenter of the fighting,” says Bednyakov. “They are from Mariupol, Volnovakha, Kyiv and Kharkiv regions and other places where Russian bombs were flying. All these children are undergoing rehabilitation in a children’s camp. Each of them has his or her own story. And almost everyone has a terrible story. I was left without parents when I was an adult. And I can’t even imagine how these children feel about the loss of their closest person. Some of them lost both parents and saw it with their own eyes…”
Bednyakov displaced children
The Ukrainian TV presenter admits that it was very difficult mentally. He was always trying to restrain his emotions.
“These little Ukrainians are very cool. They are strong. And they are adults, unfortunately,” says Andriy. “One monster (although I am not one of those who think that this is a one-man war) took away their safest period – childhood. I, as a father, held back my tears as best I could, clenching my wet fists behind my back so that no one would see (just don’t tell anyone). After all, that’s not why I came to see them. Definitely not to cry.”
Bednyakov displaced children
Despite his worries, Bednyakov and his children had a great time together.
“We talked. We remembered. They asked. I answered. We laughed. We hugged each other. We laughed again,” Andrii Bedniakov recalls. “Each of them has a dream. I have one too. I want everyone who makes these children cry every night to be punished. Children must live!”
Bednyakov displaced children
Photo: press service
