The young girls who sang for victory and met a tragic death by a Russian missile – Buried side by side

In August, a Russian rocket crashed to earth, killing two young women who were sitting on a playground bench in the shadow of a church. THE Kristina Spitsyna and the Svitlana Siemieikina is among the most of 10,000 civilians, who have lost their lives after Russia invades in February 2022.

The UN believes the actual number of those killed is “significantly higher”. Kristina's mother describes in BBC how much she misses her daughter. “The wind blows and you think it is the soul of your child, embracing you“, says. He then bends down to place yellow chrysanthemums in a vase on Kristina's grave.

Her daughter – a promising young singer – died in August, along with her best friend, Svitlana. They are buried side by side at the edge of a cemetery.

Kristina and Svitlana met in wartime, united by their love of music and Ukraine. They created a duo called Similar Girls. They sang at weddings and live-streamed their street concerts on Telegram, raising money for soldiers and civilians.

The footage shows Kristina, with long blonde hair, wearing shorts and Svitlana, guitar in hand, wearing jeans. “Our last song will be for all the people and defenders of Khersonsays Kristina. He chooses a well-known Ukrainian song entitled “Winning the War”.

“Under the blue sky in the rays of truth

With the yellow sun on my shoulder

We write books for the future

How will we win the war?

How will we win the war.”

Twenty minutes later, the two girls were killed in the playground around the corner, where they had gone to rest. It was a 300 meter walk from the main road. The rocket attack that killed the girls reverberated throughout the city. Svitlana's father, Yurii Siemieikin, was at home when he heard the rocket and immediately got into his car. “I knew they were somewhere in that area. The police let me pass and that's when I saw her. Svitlana was lying in front of mehe says, pointing with his hands to the ground.

“How is it possible in the 21st century, to do something like this, completely unprovoked?” asks 41-year-old Yurii, who works on the railways. The Russians, he says, will never be forgiven. “This will last for generations to come. Our great-grandchildren will remember everything they did and continue to do here,” he says.

Svitlana was a musician since childhood, she says, and wrote her own songs. She liked K-pop and studied foreign languages. Inside the family home, her bedroom is just as she left it – with Nirvana and AC/DC posters on the wall. Her guitar is still on the bed, as if it might one day return. Now it's her sister's turn to play. “He taught me how,” says Sasha. “At first it was difficult and I didn't like it. Now I want to keep playing. He wanted everyone to be happy and without war».

Sasha calmly talks about the missiles and airstrikes. Her sister's murder changed the way she sees situations. “I began to pay less attention to danger“, says. “I live in my own world. I feel safer now because I feel that Sveta [Svitlana] he is always with me.”

A framed photo of Svitlana is attached to her grave cross, while Kristina's photo is next to her grave. In the photos they look at each other, both forever young.

When the war broke out, Halyna suggested the girls leave. They refused. He says they wanted to keep singing, to boost people's morale. Halyna mourns not only her loss, but what her country is losing every day. “Young people die, who are very talented and very ambitious. If we don't have children, what future does the country have? It doesn't just affect us,” he says. “Ukraine can be destroyed.”

Halyna says that when Kristina started acting – at the age of five – “she appeared on stage like a star. He was not afraid of the stage. For her, it was vital that she sing.” She imagined her daughter would become famous for her voice, not her death.

Instead, she and Svitlana – and many others – are filling early graves.