CNN host Erin Burnett cried on-air Wednesday while interviewing a Ukrainian man whose immediate family had been killed by Russian forces.
Burnett interviewed Serhiy Perebyinis, whose wife and two children were killed by Russian shelling while attempting to flee the city of Irpin, located outside of the capital city, Kyiv, The New York Times first reported. Perebyinis described his wife of 23 years, Tatiana, as a “cheerful person” who loved bicycles, skiing, planting flowers and spending time at their vacation cottage.
“Serhiy, as a parent, any person around the world can’t imagine the unbearable loss, above all losing your children,” Burnett said, tearing up. “Can you tell me about them?”
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The CNN host visibly wiped away her tears as he talked about his two children, Mykyta and Alisa, who he learned had died after recognizing a photograph of them lying deceased on the side of the road March 9, The Washington Post reported. He told Burnett he first suspected something was wrong after witnessing his wife’s geolocation had moved to a hospital on Google Maps. (RELATED: Fox News Cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski, Journalist Oleksandra Kuvshynova Killed In Ukrainian City)
This photo of the Perebyinis family has become a worldwide symbol of Russia’s brutality toward Ukrainian civilians. Four people lay on a street in Irpin, a Kyiv suburb. All of them were killed by the force of Russian mortars targeting a civilian escape route.#PutinIsaWarCriminal pic.twitter.com/AhTS61Zm9H
— Jon Cooper (@joncoopertweets) March 10, 2022
A 26-year-old church volunteer, Anatoly Berezhnyi, was also killed in the attack, The Washington Post reported.
When asked what he wants the world to know about his children, Perebyinis said his 18-year-old son was attending his second year of university with ambitions to become an IT professional. He said his 9-year-old daughter liked dancing and painting and began studying English.
“They were normal, cheerful children,” he said. “And I have here where I am now, four families, all of us already settled from the Donbas area.”
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights documented at least 596 civilian deaths and 1,096 injuries between February 24 and March 12 in Ukraine, according to their website. As of March 13, the office recorded that 85 civilian children had been killed.
