Ukrainian Children Steal The Show During Mom’s Otherwise Somber Interview With CNN

Two children confined to a windowless basement in Ukraine’s capital Kyiv provided a rare moment of levity amid the Russian invasion during Anderson Cooper’s interview with their mother.

As Olena Gnes talked with the CNN anchor via video link about the harrowing reality of daily life in a war zone, two of her three kids bounced around the room, pulled funny faces and growled into the camera.

Cooper couldn’t help laugh at the antics of the girl, 7, and boy, 5.

He growled back, saying: “Ooh, they’re scary. They’re scary tigers. They’re fierce.”

Their amusing behavior was, however, in stark contrast to Gnes’ grim recounting of the war and the toll it was taking on the youngsters.

“They are full of energy and they don’t know where to give this energy,” she said. “They keep asking all the time about (Russian President Vladimir) Putin, why is he such a bad person? Why is he destroying Ukraine? Why is he killing people? And when daddy will come back home? And when we will come back home?”

Watch the interview here: