A HEARTBREAKING video shows a Ukrainian mum-of-two playing songs on her piano to “say goodbye” to her home that was destroyed by Russian bombs.
Professional pianist Irina Maniukina was filmed brushing away the ashes on her grand piano just hours after a bomb landed 10 metres from her home in Bila Tserkva, south of Kyiv.
The 48-year-old was forced to flee the city she was born in after Russian soldiers left the area in ruins on Saturday.
Irina was filmed lifting the black protective covers off her white grand piano before sitting down and wiping away dirt and ash.
She then proceeds to start playing beautifully while the windows on her house and her neighbours can be seen in the background completely smashed.
In a heartfelt moment, the emotion can be felt as the camera pans around to show rubble and the remains of their family home.
Irina’s daughter, Karina Maniukina, shared the video on TikTok on Monday, writing: “Do not judge, my mother is a professional pianist and decided to play to let go of this case.”
The video has now collected over 1.6 million views and more than 225,000 likes.
More than 3,900 comments were left from viewers who were left heartbroken by the clip.
@User12917277 said: “This is absolutely incredible and heartbreaking, just so many emotions from this video!”
@bartjf said: “I’ve seen a lot of war footage, but this choked me up.”
@MinkookYounee said: “I just burst into tears, this is so beautiful but also so heartbreaking.”
@user8750785990354 said: “Real life The Pianist scene and real life tears here.”
@MurMyersHome said: “This is incredibly beautiful and incredibly sad at the same time.”
Speaking today, Karina said: “In the morning my mother and brother went to the market and I stood in the kitchen and made pancakes.
“The night was quiet and there was no siren alarm that morning.
“I didn’t hear any sounds, and suddenly I saw an orange-black cloud to my right. Until that moment, I had not heard any aircraft or a bomb flying.
“After the explosion, everything was smashed and in ashes.
“I looked around the house and saw that a fire was starting in my brother’s room.
“Before that, I had already called my mother and they rushed as quickly as possible.
“They couldn’t drive straight to the house because the wires just lay on the road.
“They ran into the house and all together we put out the fire. After that, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and my mother decided to gather her thoughts and sit down at the piano.
“She started playing not only to relax, but to collect her thoughts and say goodbye to the house, and also to remember the good moments that were in our house.
“Since there was a lot of ash and dust in the keys and everyone was in a state of shock, she could not play for a long time.
“Then we called our friends and acquaintances and began to clean the house from glass and damaged furniture, and also took out all the things that were left.
“The bomb was about 10 meters from our house.”
The family have now been forced to travel to Lviv where they have been living since Monday which Karina says is a “very quiet and peaceful place”.
