Photo: Idina Menzel Twitter
Idina Menzelis thinking of a young girl in Ukraine.
On Sunday, the actress and singer reposted a powerful clip of a little girl singing “Let It Go” fromFrozenwhile reportedly sheltering from the Russian conflict inUkraine.
Menzel, 50 — who first sang the hit song as Elsa in the hit Disney movie — shared the footage toTwitter, where she wrote in the caption, “We see you. We really, really see you. 💙💛.”
The video, which has since been viewed over 13 million times, begins with a young girl standing before a group of people in what appears to be a bomb shelter. As she starts singing the first few lines of “Let It Go,” the group goes quiet, with some taking out their phones to film.
The child is met with applause after she finishes singing, with one person cheering “Bravo, bravo,” as the young girl (wearing her hair in Elsa’s signature braid) smiles and looks around.
According toCNN, the video was recorded in a shelter in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. (PEOPLE has not reached anyone involved in the video and has not verified its authenticity.) CNN identified the young girl as a child named Amelia, who told Marta — the woman who recorded andoriginally postedthe clip — that she wanted to be “a singer on a grand stage.”
Marta told CNN she said to Amelia, “Well, why not start now?”
Since making the rounds on social media and attracting the attention of Menzel, Amelia’s performance alsocaught the eye of Kristen Anderson-Lopez, who co-wrote the music forFrozen, including “Let It Go.”
Anderson-Lopez shared the clip onTwitterMonday, with an open letter to Amelia.
“Dear Little Girl with the beautiful voice,” she began. “My husband and I wrote this song as part of a story about healing a family in pain. The way you sing it is like a magic trick that spreads the light in your heart and heals everyone who hears it. Keep singing! We are listening!”
Amelia is one of many civilians sheltering from conflict in Ukraine amid Russia’sattack on the country, which continues after their forces launched a large-scale invasion on Feb. 24 — the first major land conflict in Europe in decades.
With NATO forces massing in the region around Ukraine, various countries have also pledged aid or military support to the resistance. Ukrainian PresidentVolodymyr Zelenskyycalled for peace talks — so far unsuccessful — while urging his country to fight back.
Putin insists Ukraine has historic ties to Russia and he is acting in the best security interests of his country. Zelenskyy vowed not to bend.
“Nobody is going to break us, we’re strong, we’re Ukrainians,“he told the European Unionin a speech in the early days of the fighting, adding, “Life will win over death. And light will win over darkness.”
source: people.com
