Video. cnn s phil black has her story. reporter: it is almost hard to comprehend, this was mariupol, not long ago, when its people knew safety and happiness. the girl in pink is kira, joyful, loved, 12 years old. this is kira after the russians came, orphaned, injured, alone, in a russian-controlled hospital. russian media released this video showing kira in donetsk, the capital of a moscow-backed separatist region in ukraine s e east. it shows her telling some of her story. there was a lot of shooting, she says, our building was hit. so was her father. yevgeny, a former captain of
They took her documents, he says, and said they ll provide new ones when they send her into russia. the russian government has said it helped move at least 60,000 ukrainian people to safety, across the russian border. the ukrainian government has said around 40,000 have been relocated against their will, describing it as abduction, and forced deportation. the russian media video shows kira talking happily about how she sometimes allowed to call her grandfather. i called him today, she says. i ll also call him in the evening. a russian tv presenter called the video proof kira wasn t abducted, proof of yet another ukrainian fake. kira also sometimes sends her grandfather audio messages, like this one.
Ukraine s national water polo team, was shot from a distance and killed as russian forces fought their way into mariupol on march 17. days later, kira, some neighbors, her father s girlfriend, tried to flee the city on foot. but someone stepped on a mine and kira was injured in the blast. russian soldiers then took her to donetsk. the russian military which killed your son now has your granddaughter. her grandfather tells me her mother died when she was a baby. now she s watched her father die. she misses her remaining family and she wants to return to him. he is scared he may never seen kira again. he says an official from the breakaway government in donetsk phoned and invited him to travel there, to claim her. that is impossible because of the war. and when he spoke to the hospital, he says he was told kira will eventually be sent to an orphanage in russia.
There was a lot of shooting, she says, our building was hit. so was her father, a former captain of ukraine s national water polo team was shot from a distance and killed as russian forces fought their way into mariupol on march 17th. days later kira, some neighbors and her father s girlfriend tried to flee the city on foot, but someone stepped on a mine and kira was injured in the blast. russian soldiers then took her to donetsk. the russian military that killed your son now has your granddaughter. his grandfather tells me her mother died when she was a baby and now she watched her father die. she misses her remaining family and wants to return to them. alexander is scared he may never see kira again. she says an official from break
A 12-year-old girl, your care-free life upended. you re orphaned during the relentless attacks and then captured by russian soldiers. cnn s phil black lays out a grim future for this child caught in the midst of war. reporter: it s almost hard to comprehend. this was mariupol. not long ago when its people knew safety and happiness. the girl in pink is kira, joyful, loved, 12 years old. this is kira after the russians came, orphaned, injured, alone in a russian controlled hospital. russian media released this video showing kira in donetsk, the capital of a separatist backed russian region in ukraine s east. it shows her telling some of her story, why she fled mariupol.