THE PARENTS OF three children who died when their flight was shot down over Ukraine last week have issued a message to soldiers, politicians, the media and their family and friends.

The heartbreaking statement highlights their pain following the loss of 12-year-old Mo, 10-year-old Evie and eight-year-old Otis.

The children’s grandfather Nick also died in the crash.

The four of them were returning to their home in Australia following a holiday in Amsterdam.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Australia released the statement on their behalf yesterday.

A message to the soldiers in the Ukraine, the politicians, the media, our friends and family.

Our pain is intense and relentless. We live in a hell beyond hell.

Our babies are not here with us – we need to live with this act of horror, every day and every moment for the rest of our lives.

No one deserves what we are going through.

Not even the people who shot our whole family out of the sky.

No hate in the world is as strong as the love we have for our children, for Mo, for Evie, for Otis.

No hate in the world is as strong as the love we have for Grandad Nick.

No hate in the world is as strong as the love we have for each other.

This is a revelation that gives us some comfort.

We would ask everyone to remember this when you are making any decisions that affect us and the other victims of this horror.

So far, every moment since we arrived home, we’ve been surrounded by family and friends. We desperately pray that this continues, because this expression of love is what is keeping us alive.

We want to continue to know about your lives, all the good and all the bad. We no longer have lives that we want to live by ourselves. So we’d like to take the chance to thank everyone, all our incredible friends, family and communities, and to tell you all that we love you very much.

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