After the picture that news’s photographer took of the 13-year-old spread very quickly on social media, a brief meeting between the boy and a Ukrainian soldier was caught on video by a French TV team. In the recording, the boy, named Glib, approaches a Ukrainian soldier. – You are the boy in the picture, says the soldier. – Yes, replies Glib, and smiles proudly. Apparently, being a celebrity is a bit of a luxury. The journalists found the boy after more and more people, both in Ukraine and in other countries, shared his picture online at a furious pace. The 13-year-old tells what life has been like during the occupation. – The Russians threatened to kill parents who did not send their children to Russian schools. They said that if we disobeyed, they would send us to other families in Crimea. But we didn’t obey, says Glib to France Télévisions. The Ukrainian boy says that he was so happy that his mother had let him leave the house after so many months of war. But Glib still can’t go to school. The future is highly uncertain as long as the war continues. The journalists ask the 13-year-old what he himself thinks of the picture. – I look mean and dirty in the picture. I don’t like it very much, he says to the French TV channel. The picture of Ukrainian Glib (13) has been shared by many people on social media. Photo: Andras D.Hajdu / news Taken by an award-winning photojournalist The picture of the Ukrainian boy was taken just days after the successful liberation of Kherson city from Russian occupation. It was the award-winning Hungarian journalist András D. Hajdú who took the photo. Together with news’s correspondent Roger Sevrin Bruland, Hajdú was at work to document and report from the war in Ukraine. Hajdú, Bruland and many other journalists had been driven in a bus for several hours along a bombed-out road to reach the liberated city of Kherson. It was just days after Russia had withdrawn up to 30,000 Russian soldiers from the city of Kherson and elsewhere along the western bank of the Dnipro River. Now the press would have to let it go. In the square in Kherson, news’s team saw hundreds of Ukrainians gathered. The atmosphere was expectant. The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense has also retweeted the photo on Twitter. Photo: Screenshot / Twitter The look that said it all Photographer András D. Hajdú immediately picked up his big camera and started taking pictures. No one should doubt that he was a job. – I went straight towards the crowd, which I thought would celebrate, says Hajdú. – But they stood still, still in shock after six months of Russian occupation. I started taking pictures and caught the eye of the boy in the front row. While the journalists were in Kherson, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj also unexpectedly appeared in the city. The crowd stood still and watched all the soldiers surrounding the president. – When Zelenskyj came, we knew we had a bad time because of the security that must be ensured with such a visit, says news’s correspondent Roger Sevrin Bruland. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a quick visit to Kherson just days after Russian forces pulled out. Photo: András D. Hajdú For the Hungarian photographer András D. Hajdú, it is important to find a face in the crowd that can give a sense of how people feel. – This boy, who is really an innocent child, stared into the camera with the look of an old man. The look was so strong and said so much. After two months of wartime work, I just wanted to leave, says Hajdú. The award-winning photojournalist has worked all over the world for the past 15 years with, among others, National Geographic, The Telegraph, Politico, Forbes, Bloomberg, FN and Tages Anzeiger. And now with news. Now the image of the boy has spread very quickly. It is shown and talked about both internationally and in Ukraine. – You feel it in your gut. The Press Photographers Club is a Norwegian interest organization for over 200 press photographers. Leader Marte Christensen says what is special about the photo is that the photographer has captured the gaze of a child who has experienced war. – The image communicates immediately. You feel it in your gut. When you look at the picture, you feel that you are seeing a young person who has had too many cruel experiences, says Christensen to news. She believes that the fact that the image can be read and felt so quickly means that many people share it. – It is insanely important that journalists and photographers are present in war zones. You can’t stop it. This picture shows that one reaches through. People react. Maybe that can change something, says Christensen. Photographer András D. Hajdú has received over a thousand comments and several thousand new followers on social media after the photo was published. – Ukrainians tell me that the picture shows how they feel about the war, what they think about the Russians and what they are going through, Hajdú tells news. He says it is good to see that the boy is proud to be recognised. – So I hope the picture can lead to changes. Or at least that it can make people understand what the Ukrainians are going through, says the Hungarian photojournalist.
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