Irina Dmitrieva, the mother of four-year-old Liza, who died in a Russian strike on Vinnitsa, is in a critical condition in the hospital. Immediately after the shelling, footage appeared on social networks with an overturned stroller and a murdered child. Just a few hours before, Lisa's mother posted a video of a walk with her daughter on social networks. Irina led Instagram, where she talked about the upbringing of Lisa – a girl with developmental disabilities. Almost immediately after the start of the war, the girl's parents took her away from Kyiv to save her from shelling, but this did not help.
Separation from daughter due to war
On February 23, Irina's ex-husband Artem took their daughter from the kindergarten and was supposed to bring her to her on the morning of February 24. At five in the morning, a woman heard explosions in Kyiv, then sirens, she gathered her things and documents and waited for her husband to bring her daughter to “hug and kiss”. The girl's parents agreed that the father would pick up the child and take him to a safe place. Due to traffic jams, the father and the girl could not get to their mother, they had to immediately leave Kyiv.
“I didn’t even have time to kiss and hug her and I don’t know when I will see her. My mother's heart is breaking. Her favorite toy is with me. Liza always took her bear with her to the garden, yesterday she refused. I still wondered why. Now this is my talisman, ”wrote Irina.
She added that she has relatives and friends in Russia. And wished everyone peace and support.
Already on February 27, Irina published her drawing with a Ukrainian soldier, Vinnitsa was listed in the geolocation.
A day later, Irina shared a photo with her daughter, noting that all events were divided into "before the war" and "during the war." She expressed the hope that a "peaceful after" will come very soon. The woman wrote how she dreams every day about meeting her daughter and how scared she is.
On March 2, on the 7th day of the war, she published a photo and video of Russian strikes: “Russian people are being blocked from channels and shown lies. And now Belarus has sent its troops to Ukraine. For what???" Irina urged Russian subscribers to go to the pages of Ukrainian bloggers to find out the truth.
On the 10th day of the war, March 6, Irina announced that her daughter had a birthday, she was 4 years old. “10th day, I can’t see you, hug you, kiss you. All these events are terrible. Pain for your country. Pain for the death of people. Double pain because you are not with me. I dream of meeting, ”the mother shared.
In March, Irina published another six posts with her daughter, she wrote that she contacts her every day. On March 31, she posted photos of the girl, signing them:
36 days of separation. Never, never have we seen each other for such a long time. Some people have a question: “Lisa didn’t forget her mother?”, “How does she react?” Deep down, I'm afraid of that too. On the phone, she tells me: "Mom, boo boo, love." And that's enough. She has not forgotten, she remembers, she remembers everything! A little more, and I'll definitely pick it up. I don't know when the war will end, but I'm not going to wait! My baby girl will be home soon
Long-awaited meeting
On April 7, after 42 days of separation, Irina finally met her daughter: “Lizunya is with me. Tears of happiness! I don't believe. My girl, my love, my life! Now we are together, ”she shared with subscribers. The mother posted a video to the Ukrainian song and accompanied it with a caption in Ukrainian.
“For the first 20 minutes of our meeting, Lisa constantly said: “Mom, mom, mom …” She stroked my face, hugged me, ”Irina signed another post on April 7.
“I used to think how people can meet during the war, continue to work, dance, create families, drink coffee and laugh … Now I understand that life goes on. Waking up from shock, you get used to the surrounding events, pull yourself together and begin to live in a new way, in new conditions.
In May, Irina said that her daughter was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis: the girl's problems began in December 2021, then she was examined and treated in Kyiv. But over time it got worse, the girl began to limp, "pull her leg and complain of pain." In Vinnitsa, they again had to undergo a full examination, take tests and be treated. Then Irina noted that this is a long process that will last from 1 year: “In a month, you need to take tests, and then every three months, examinations.”
Then Irina published posts from spring walks with her daughter, but complained that she had not been at home for almost three months, and her “life and soul remained in Kyiv.”
“When I left, it was still winter, and in a few weeks it was already summer. There were so many plans… And to start all over again. In two years, I moved 4 times and radically changed my life.”
She was also surprised that after three years her daughter would already go to school, and shared that the girl had resumed classes with a speech therapist. At the end of May, my daughter went to Kyiv for a week with her dad, at which time Irina was learning tickets to pass her driving test.
A few more posts in June, a joint photo with my daughter from Kyiv on the 22nd. “My flower”, “How good”, “They are so cute, I love it,” the mother signed the pictures with her daughter. However, in July, she had to post the last few photos with her baby.
"Finally a shared photo"
Irina was happy to shoot together with her daughter and posted pictures and videos for several days.
“Finally, a group photo. Oh Lisa is stubborn. Either she wants to be photographed, or she doesn’t. When I was little, everything was simple. And now you need to speak with her correctly, appease, ask permission, build a dialogue.
She shared that every year she wanted to go to the lavender field and she and her daughter finally succeeded.
“I am so pleased that I am the main example of my child. She copies absolutely everything – dances, movements, posing in front of a mirror, some everyday things. If I go in for sports – she too, I put on makeup – repeats. They rightly say that you need to educate yourself.
In the last photo with her daughter from the lavender field, Irina wrote about the “crisis of 3 years” and the difficulties with raising her daughter.
“He doesn’t listen, he does the opposite, on purpose. Dress up now with hysterics. Her constant "no" to everything I say. Where did my angel go? She was an obedient child. The only good news is that this is a leap in development, and you just need to survive this period. But I have already booked her in with a psychologist. All problems must be solved immediately, in no case should they be launched.
After the news about the death of the girl, Elena Zelenskaya wrote on Twitter that she knew Lisa. She posted a Christmas video in which they starred together.
On July 14, the Ukrainian authorities reported an attack on the center of Vinnitsa by Russian Caliber cruise missiles launched from a submarine in the Black Sea. According to the latest data, the death toll from the rocket attack on Vinnitsa has risen to 23 people, among the dead are three children, including Liza. The other two children who died were six and seven years old, nothing more is known about them yet. More than 100 people were injured and turned to hospitals for help. The Russian Ministry of Defense explained the missile attack on Vinnitsa by the fact that "Nazis" were allegedly based in the local House of Officers. The response of the department was published in her Telegram channel by the head of the RT channel Margarita Simonyan.
Since the first day of the war, the Russian side has been claiming that it is only attacking the military infrastructure of Ukraine. In fact, it regularly shells civilian targets. So on July 3, the Russian military attacked Slavyansk. The mayor of the city, Vadim Lyakh, said that it was "the largest shelling of the city in recent times." Also, Russia regularly attacks Nikolaev. According to the mayor of the city Alexander Senkevich, during the war, Russian troops caused damage to Mykolaiv in the amount of 633 million hryvnias ($21.4 million).