‘We Left Dad In Kyiv’: Boy Tearfully Describes Fleeing Home Amid Russian Invasion

A video of a boy is breaking hearts online as he talked about fleeing home and leaving his father behind in Kyiv, where the Ukrainian army continues to battle against the Russian forces.

In the video posted by NBC News on Twitter, the unidentified boy can be seen trying to keep his tears from falling as he says, “We left dad in Kyiv.”

The boy finally breaks down as he says, “Dad will be selling things and helping our heroes, our army, he might even fight.” The boy went on to say that “we had been walking for around three hours, and you saved us,” adding that he “thought we would be walking for two or three days.” While wiping his tears, the boy said, “I thought we would be walking all day but you helped us out.”

According to NBC News, the boy is Ukrainian.

The video amassed more than 100,000 views since it was posted on social media. It also shows a long line of vehicles in what appears to be a traffic jam as the camera pans toward a woman in tears. Twitter user @karlabryant84 commented on the video, stating that “children should not have these worries. My god, what have we come to?”

It is unclear when the video was shot and where exactly the boy and his family fled. The video surfaced as Russia continues its invasion of Ukraine.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said Sunday that nearly 370,000 people have fled Ukraine since Russia invaded the country Thursday, Time Magazine reported. The United Nations projected that the numbers could grow up to five million should the fighting continue. While some of the refugees have fled to Romania, Moldova, and Hungry, the agency said most of the displaced Ukrainian civilians headed toward Poland.

On Sunday afternoon, European Union interior ministers held a meeting in Brussels to discuss a common response to the growing refugee crisis as fueled by Russia’s advances. A document seen by Politico indicated that the ministers were asked to assess proposals related to the crisis. A recommendation raised during the meeting was “to examine the implementation of an adapted temporary protection device” for Ukrainian refugees, the outlet reported.

The EU has a Temporary Protection Directive which has yet to be used. The European Commission (EC) website describes the directive as “an exceptional measure to provide immediate and temporary protection to displaced persons from non-EU countries and those unable to return to their country of origin.” Poland and Hungry were among the EU members that previously rejected the directive, Politico reported.

The EC is set to ask member nations to grant temporary asylum to all displaced Ukrainians entering the EU for up to three years, The New York Times reported. A growing number of Polish citizens have mobilized to welcome Ukrainian refugees into their homes, signifying the expanding humanitarian solidarity with Ukraine in the country’s battle for self-determination.