With cameras rolling, Putin shares tender moment with daughter of helicopter pilot killed in Kharkiv

During Unity Day commemorations in Moscow on Monday, Vladimir Putin comforted the 12-year-old daughter of military helicopter pilot Vasily Kleshchenko, who died in April 2022 in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region. 

In a video shared on social media, Varvara Kleshchenko tells the president that her father fought in “multiple wars” and was killed “while carrying out a combat mission.” Putin interrupts the girl to clarify when her father died and then asks who she lives with now and if she has any siblings. After hearing that she lives with her mother and has a 21-year-old sister, the president pats her on the shoulder, hugs her, and kisses her on the head.

Vasily Kleshchenko was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of Russia. A grade school in near Russia’s 344th Army Aviation Center for Combat Application and Pilot Retraining now bears Kleshchenko’s name.