In a calm, matter-of-fact way, 11-year-old Roman Oleksiv has shared the story of how his mother died.

He was just seven when he accompanied her to a medical check-up in Vinnytsya, a city south west of Kyiv and hundreds of miles from Ukraine’s front line.

But one of Putin’s warships based in the Black Sea fired three cruise missiles on July 14, 2022, indiscriminately into the city.

Roman was one of the children invited to the European Parliament to talk about how Russia’s war has impacted children.

His mother, Halyna, was killed instantly, while Roman suffered burns across nearly half of his body.

Several people in the committee room where he spoke were very quickly moved to tears by what he said.

He said: ‘It was the last time I saw my mum and the last time I was able to say goodbye.’

It was at this point that his translator choked on her words and was momentarily unable to speak. A man off-screen offered to take over the translation before she was able to continue.

Roman said: ‘I saw her under the debris, and I could see her hair. I was able to touch her hair, and I could say goodbye to her.’

He suffered internal bleeding, both his arms were broken, muscles were severed and he was inflicted with several shrapnel wounds.

After 35 operations, he was finally able to move on and went on to study dancing and music – taking after his mum, who was an accordionist and teacher

Roman finished, saying: ‘I want to tell you that when we’re together, we’re strong and you have to never, ever give up.

‘We have to continue helping Ukrainian children.’

Looking to the future, Roman told RFE: ‘Physically, you have to put in effort on the accordion and you have to think the same way, because your right hand has to think what to play, and at the same time you pull so that there is sound, so that the air flows.’

The story of his tragedy and recovery prompted a film about his life, which was shown to Pope Francis before his death.

Thousands of Ukrainian children have been killed and kidnapped since the beginning of Russia’s illegal war.

At least 20,000 children were ripped away from their everyday lives and taken to foreign countries where they have been tortured, denied food and any contact with their loved ones.

Russia has been accused of the largest state-sponsored kidnapping of children in modern history, but the figure is feared to be much higher.

Maria Lvova-Belova, Russian commissioner for children’s rights, even boasted that the state has ‘evacuated’ 300,000 Ukrainian kids from their bombed-out homes in 2023.

Putin’s forces went so far as to target orphanages, meaning many children are facing brutal Russian indoctrination without anyone back home searching for them.

Only 300 of the kidnapped children have been returned, and there are few signs this number will grow.