‘Where is my dad?’ Young boy, 3, cries out for his father from hospital bed after the pair were injured in Russian attack on Mariupol
- Heartbreaking minute-long clip shows Mariupol child Dima, 3, ask about father
- Dima cries: ‘Daddy. Is my daddy coming at all? Where is my dad? Is he coming?’
- A nurse goes over to reassure the boy and explain his dad is okay and on the way
- They were wounded in the latest savage Russian airstrike on Mariupol this week
This is the heartbreaking moment a three-year-old Ukrainian boy asks for his dad after they were both injured in a Mariupol airstrike.
Little Dima asks for his father, who is being treated elsewhere in the hospital with his own wounds.
The boy cries achingly and asks again and again: ‘Daddy. Is my daddy coming at all?
Dima, three, waits to see his dad in the Mariupol hospital ward where they are both being treated
Dima cries out ‘Daddy’ to no avail, as his father is being treated elsewhere in the hospital
Father and son were seriously hurt in one of many vicious Russian attacks on Mariupol
‘Where is my dad? Is my dad coming?’
Finally a nurse comes over and tells him, ‘Yes, yes he will come. Just don’t cry, okay?
‘He will be here soon, like your mum told you.’
Fitted with a nasogastric tube, Dima lies helpless on a metal bed with his toy car next to him.
‘Dima, 3’ is written in felt pen on the bed frame.
The CBS News clip has been shared tens of thousands of times since airing last night after the latest Russian airstrikes on Mariupol.
The coastal town in Ukraine’s south-east has been the scene of intense fighting since February as Putin tries to clear a warpath between Russia-controlled territory and Crimea.
Mariupol – and Dima – are just in the way.
The crumbling city finally got the reprieve of a 24-hour ceasefire from 7am this morning to evacuate trapped civilians.
That was too late for Dima’s family, who must stay for life-saving treatment and won’t be on one of the 45 buses sent in to collect desperate refugees.
Teams from the Red Cross are also on their way to Mariupol with aid supplies, hoping to evacuate more civilians tomorrow.
Ewan Watson, ICRC spokesperson, said Ukraine and Russia must agree on the exact terms of the operation, which is planned for Friday, adding that ‘tens of thousands’ of lives depend on its success.
‘For logistics and security reasons, we’ll be ready to lead the safe passage operation tomorrow, Friday, provided all the parties agree to the exact terms, including the route, the start time, and the duration,’ Watson told Reuters in Geneva.
Despite hopes of a brief respite from the Russian onslaught, Putin has vowed to continue his destruction as soon as the ceasefire ends, saying he will only stop shelling Mariupol when it is surrendered.
The president made the comments during an hour-long phone call with Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday night, the Kremlin said.
Mariupol has been granted the reprieve of a 24-hour ceasefire, but Russia will restart attacks
The once-beautiful seaside town has seen its population halve – and many landmarks wrecked
Military weapons remain on the streets of Mariupol even as fighting comes to a brief halt
Roads in Mariupol have become dusty and unkempt, while entire buildings are hollowed out
Mariupol nurse Svetlana Savchenko, 56, surveys her broken apartment building on Wednesday
Putin told Macron that ‘in order to resolve the difficult humanitarian situation in this city, Ukrainian nationalist militants must stop resisting and lay down their arms’, Russian officials said.
The city, which usually has a population of more than 400,000, has been a strategic focus of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that began five weeks ago, and has suffered near-constant bombardment.
Repeated attempts to organise safe corridors have failed, with each side blaming the other.
Russia denies targeting civilians in its assault on Ukraine.
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