Among the many vivid images of the war in Ukraine and the streams of refugees rushing to the borders of neighboring countries, the image of this little boy, crying bitterly, wrapped in his multi-colored parka and advancing with an indecisive step, was especially touching. peace.
Over the past few days, the video has been shared on social media, broadcast on TV channels, and the image has been picked up by newspapers. But most of the media presented the document without giving context or additional explanations for the scene. CNN journalist Josh Campbell was one of the first to relay this on his Twitter account with the comment: “Violent.”
What is it: his name is Valery, he is 4 years old.
The footage was filmed by a team of journalists from the British news agency Reuters in Medyka, the border crossing point between Ukraine and Poland. The video shows the child walking alone in tears with a plastic bag almost the same size as himself. It looks like no one is following him. After a few steps, he stops. And viewers imagine the anguish, fatigue and anguish of a child fleeing the war, finding himself alone, away from home and, apparently, without a family.
But, faced with emotions, especially of Internet users, on March 8, the Polish border police published a tweet in which they gave the context of these images and broke the news about a little boy: his name is Valery, he is 4 years old, “And contrary to the false information circulating on the Internet, he did not cross the border alone, he was with his family. »
#StopFakeNews
Informujemy,że wbrew niestety rozpowszechnianym w mediach informacjom,4-year-old Walerij z🇺🇦nie przekroczył granicy sam,był razem ze swoją rodziną. On the border of the border #PSGMedica dostał od funkcjonariuszy słodkie upominki.
On i jego rodzina są bezpieczni w Polsce🇵🇱 pic.twitter.com/7vkq6LBU2n— Straz Graniczna (@Straz_Graniczna) March 8, 2022
Within seconds of the footage, the little boy found his family waiting for him at the end of the driveway. The Polish police even elaborate that his agents offered candy to him and his brother, and that everyone is safe in Poland.
On Sunday, an 11-year-old Ukrainian boy crossed the border into Slovakia alone, with only a plastic bag, a passport and a phone number written on his arm.
The same little boy, smiling more a few minutes after the first scene.
Video capture.