The Missing Children of Ukraine - Sasha's story
The Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ's Eastern Europe Correspondent Sarah Rainsford investigates claims that thousands of children are being taken from Ukrainian schools by Russian soldiers.
Sasha was among 13 children taken from his school in north-eastern Ukraine last September by armed Russian soldiers in balaclavas. Ushered onto a bus with shouts of "Quickly!", they then disappeared for weeks without trace. When the children, who all have special educational needs, were finally allowed to call home, it was from much deeper inside Russian-occupied territory. To get them back, their relatives were forced to make gruelling journeys across thousands of miles into the country that has declared war on them. Only eight of the children have been returned so far.
Ukraine says more than 19,000 children have been taken to Russia from occupied areas since Moscow's troops invaded.
In this episode of 5 Minutes On, the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ's Eastern Europe Correspondent Sarah Rainsford shares Sasha's story.
(Image: Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ)
