Words by Lauren Clarke, ITV News Editor, Video Report by Martha Fairlie She was a 10-year-old Harry Potter fan with a bright smile and pink hair, whose image became a symbol of suffering and the loss of innocence. In the early days of the war, Polina Kudrin and her parents were among the first victims killed as they tried to flee for safety. Polina’s seven-year-old brother, Semyon, died at the hospital a few days later. Their 13-year-old sister, Sofia, was left to fight for her life – unaware that she was the only surviving member of her family. Sophia’s sister, Polina, was one of the first known child victims of the war. More than three weeks later, Sophia is in Rome being treated for her injuries after a charity intervened to help. ITV News has seen Sofia and her grandmother, Svetlana Kudrin, talking to us to help Sofia get over the trauma. “We dream of the moment we can return home and when the war is over,” Svetlana Kudrin tells us. Sofia (right) with her 10-year-old sister, Polina But the house for Svetlana and her granddaughter will never be the same again. 1,400 miles from her home in Kyiv, Sophia is being treated to remove a bullet that fell on her spine after being shot in the car her family was riding in. It was their last trip together. Days before the war broke out in Ukraine, Sofia was like any other 13-year-old – happy, optimistic and enjoying life with her family and friends. Sofia shows that she can now use a phone and take off her shoes The Russian invasion left her hospitalized for near-fatal bullet wounds in an underground makeshift hospital. Doctors feared the worst for Sofia, but thanks to the work of the Ukrainian charity Mother and Child, the 13-year-old was taken to a pediatric hospital in Rome. Sophia’s grandmother, who was silently mourning the loss of her son and her family, told us that while Sophia has not been officially informed of what happened to her and her family, she believes the teenager is feeling it. “She understands everything, I think, but it is a forbidden subject at the moment – we do not touch on it,” Svetlana said. “He talks about all the good things, we listen to music and we watch cartoons.” Sophia before the shooting that killed her family When describing Sophia, Svetlana paints an athletic girl who loved design, computers and sports. She is convinced that Sophia can and will fully recover one day. But this will be just the beginning for this courageous, young girl. As a true teenager, her grandmother explains, Sophia’s first goal was to learn to use a telephone again. And it’s a goal he achieved quickly. When Sophia first arrived in Rome, she could only communicate with her eyes, but Svetlana tells us that she never gave up and her spirit of living helped her pass. Now, just a few weeks later in the hospital, Sophia has made huge strides. she can take off her shoes, wiggle her toes and cross her legs. The speed of her progress has impressed her doctors. This recovery is partly due to the woman behind Sophia’s rescue evacuation from Ukraine to Italy – Alla Melnychuk. Before the war, Alla’s job was to help newborns and children receive specialized treatment and surgery, but now her mission is to save children with horrific war wounds. Sophia and her late younger brother, Semyon She tells us that she has been flooded with calls from desperate doctors and bereaved families in Ukraine asking for her help. “I did not sleep for more than two hours during the first ten days of the war,” he explains. “I had messages from parents whose children had died or from doctors saying that whole families had died. “I felt like my life was going to hell.” But the calls keep coming. While we were with her, a doctor contacted Alla and asked about the transport of a two-year-old boy who had lost his legs in a bomb blast. Another terrified resident sent her a frantic message from a city surrounded by Russian forces, begging for help to save a girl with a bullet in her head. “It is impossible to look these children in the eye, because they have seen the deaths of their families. “Many lost their mothers because they protected their children with their bodies,” says Alla, trying not to cry. “Many of them do not know that they have lost their families.” Alla (photo in white coat) poses next to a doctor and Sofia. Since the start of the war in Ukraine, Alla and her charity, Mother and Child, have helped bring nearly 30 sick and injured children from Ukraine to Rome for treatment. The charity is now raising money to help continue the transportation organization for more children like Sophia. “We can not give Sofia back her mom, dad, brother and sister and we have more than 20 such children here,” explains Alla. “We can not reverse what happened, but we can help them with treatment, support and help them physically stand on their own two feet.” Sophia is not strong enough to face the horror of this war – her focus is to recover and give herself a chance to fight. Svetlana says they should start a new life – but she has no idea what it will look like.
