A video of a young Ukrainian girl singing “Let It Go” from the Oscar-winning film Frozen has taken the internet by storm. Her name is Amelia and she has dreams of singing on the big stage to large audiences.
The video was uploaded by Marta Smekhova to Facebook on the 3rd of March and has racked up over 105k shares in just a few days. The video was captioned with a long heart felt text written by Marta which we have translated into English, “seeing in one of the Kiev bomb storage, how children draw bright pictures in half-darkness, I, of course, couldn’t silently pass by…stopped, praised, offered to do a little exhibition to somehow decorate this not so happy place…painted together – a boy and a girl…the girl turned out to be so friendly, so talkative…”
Marta continued, “She told me that besides drawing, she loves to sing… and whispered shared her dream that she wants to sing on a big stage in front of the audience…so what’s the matter ? – I’m saying, – now we’re organizing… do you see honey how many people are here? that’s what you sing for!!! It’s loud, I won’t be heard, – worried… well, how not to worry? This is the first performance in front of an audience… needless to say worried for nothing.. from the first word in the [bomb shelter] came complete silence… everyone put their business aside and listened to a song by this girl who was just beaming light…”
“even men couldn’t hold back the tears.. Video made with permission of the girl’s mother… promised that many people will see her! Amelia really wanted this.. I showed this video to people in different cities of Ukraine, it was seen by foreigners in different parts of the world! Amelia, your singing left no one indifferent! look, Russians, against whom you are fighting! Only a coward can fight against civilians, take away childhood from defenceless children! You let your children go to the stew, making them into cannon meat… and our children radiate light, and even in a raw dark basement it does not blink, but ignites even brighter! And our children are applauded by the whole world!”
Idina Menzel, who played Frozen character Elsa and sang the original track, posted a message in support: “We see you. We really, really see you.”
In another video, a group of Ukrainian women are singing patriotic songs as they weave camouflage nets to be used by their soldiers on the frontline.
“Unbreakable”
Although their singing is beautiful, there is nothing beautiful about the circumstances in Ukraine currently. Above the women reads a sign written in Ukrainian that translates to “Unbreakable” – a message of Ukrainian bravery and a message they certainly are fulfilling.
Earlier last week, a woman named “Oksana Gulenko” sings the Ukrainian national anthem as she sweeps glass from the window ledge in her home. She could be seen holding back her tears as she cleared the devastation from her bomb-stricken home.
Despite the official words coming from Moscow saying it would only strike military targets in Ukraine, videos like the one above are helping to prove that more than 33 civilian sites have in fact been hit by the Russian attacks. We all hope these devastating scenes will soon comes to an end.
Over the past week, the Ukrainian national anthem has been sung by people across the world showing their solidarity with the Ukrainian people. The song’s title translates into English as “Glory and Freedom of Ukraine Has not yet Perished”. As the attacks were announced by the Russian President last week, the people of Kramatorsk took to the city center to sing the Ukrainian national anthem. This powerful song and passionate performance is a display of unison from the Ukrainian people in the face of very worrying events.