0:00:08 > 0:00:14'Ukraine got its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
0:00:14 > 0:00:17'Under the Soviet system, a mother could abandon her newborn baby
0:00:17 > 0:00:21'in the maternity ward by simply signing it over to the state.
0:00:21 > 0:00:27'Today, the legacy of that system is that state care has become
0:00:27 > 0:00:30'the norm for children with any kind of disability.
0:00:30 > 0:00:34'There are ten times as many children in state care in Ukraine
0:00:34 > 0:00:36'as in England.
0:00:37 > 0:00:41'I have come to find out, after two decades of independence,
0:00:41 > 0:00:47'how disabled children are cared for in institutions today.'
0:00:52 > 0:00:57I can see from looking at her that she's in a very chronic condition.
0:00:57 > 0:00:59You know, she could die.
0:00:59 > 0:01:03'I also want to meet young people who have grown up in state care and hear their stories.
0:01:23 > 0:01:28'Under the Charter of the United Nations, of which Ukraine is a founding member,
0:01:28 > 0:01:32'everyone has basic rights, irrespective of sickness or disability.
0:01:33 > 0:01:36'But, even when they grow up, many of Ukraine's orphans
0:01:36 > 0:01:40'become trapped in the system, with no right of appeal
0:01:40 > 0:01:43'and no right to have their voices heard.'
0:01:56 > 0:01:59I don't understand what mentally incapacitated means.
0:01:59 > 0:02:05She says, "They can take away your camera, get out as soon as possible."
0:02:05 > 0:02:08'I want to know what life is like for the children of Ukraine
0:02:08 > 0:02:10'who live and die in state care.'
0:02:12 > 0:02:14It's so sad.
0:02:37 > 0:02:40'As co-hosts of Euro 2012,
0:02:40 > 0:02:43'Ukraine is keen to prove it deserves a place at the EU table.
0:02:44 > 0:02:49'Around £9 billion, more than half of it public money,
0:02:49 > 0:02:53'has been spent on stadiums, airports, trains and hotels.
0:02:53 > 0:02:58'But, whilst money has been found for infrastructure in major cities,
0:02:58 > 0:03:03'the budgets for the care of the weakest members of Ukraine's society have been under strain.
0:03:07 > 0:03:09'In the last decade,
0:03:09 > 0:03:12'the number of state-funded institutes caring for children
0:03:12 > 0:03:18'has increased, as families have felt the strain of the country's economic collapse
0:03:18 > 0:03:21'following independence from the Soviet Union.
0:03:21 > 0:03:24'For the next six months I will be filming
0:03:24 > 0:03:27'the lives of a group of children in an institute in southern Ukraine.
0:03:27 > 0:03:32'I've filmed in orphanages before, in Bulgaria and in Greece,
0:03:32 > 0:03:37'and witnessed distressing scenes of neglect and abuse.
0:03:37 > 0:03:40'But it's all too easy to criticise individual carers.
0:03:40 > 0:03:47'What I want to understand here in Ukraine is how the system as a whole treats disabled children,
0:03:47 > 0:03:50'so I've come to an institute with caring staff.
0:03:50 > 0:03:53'This home houses over 100 children of very mixed abilities
0:03:53 > 0:03:56'from the age of five to adulthood.'
0:04:06 > 0:04:09Davay ruki.
0:04:34 > 0:04:38'Ten-year-old Lyosha is a bright and happy child.
0:04:38 > 0:04:44'Though he has no hands or feet, Lyosha is fiercely independent.
0:04:53 > 0:04:56'His mother gave him up to the care of the state when he was a baby
0:04:56 > 0:05:01'and he has been at this institute for the last six years.
0:05:01 > 0:05:05'This makes him what is called in Ukraine a social orphan.
0:05:05 > 0:05:08'This means that, like so many of the children here,
0:05:08 > 0:05:13'his parents are still alive but are unable or unwilling to care for him.
0:05:40 > 0:05:43'Lyosha is proud of the fact he makes his own bed
0:05:43 > 0:05:45'and won't allow the carers to help him.'
0:05:45 > 0:05:47And he goes to the toilet himself.
0:05:49 > 0:05:50Oh, it's Katya!
0:05:50 > 0:05:54'Katya is another social orphan.
0:05:54 > 0:05:56'She also has living parents
0:05:56 > 0:05:59'who signed her over to state care as a baby.
0:05:59 > 0:06:02'She's been here for 18 years.
0:06:02 > 0:06:04'She grew up unable to walk.
0:06:04 > 0:06:07'It is only in recent years that she's become mobile.'
0:06:14 > 0:06:16Misha, the teddy bear.
0:06:17 > 0:06:21'Nikolai is the institute's director.
0:06:21 > 0:06:25'He is clearly very committed to those in his charge.
0:06:25 > 0:06:28'The trouble is, chronically sick children are sent to the institute
0:06:28 > 0:06:33'and he simply does not have the qualified staff or the medical facilities to look after them.
0:06:46 > 0:06:50'Ukraine has the worst HIV/AIDS epidemic in Europe
0:06:50 > 0:06:55'and one of the fastest-growing epidemics in the world.
0:06:55 > 0:06:56'Among his children,
0:06:56 > 0:07:00'Nikolai has the challenge of caring for an HIV-positive child
0:07:00 > 0:07:04'who the carers are scared to look after.
0:07:21 > 0:07:26'Ideally, Nikolai would like to see all his children growing up in a family,
0:07:26 > 0:07:30'but so far not a single child has ever been adopted
0:07:30 > 0:07:32'from this institute.'
0:07:41 > 0:07:44- You see, this is formal and official. - Yeah.
0:08:11 > 0:08:16'Nikolai despairs that he is sent children who have multiple problems.
0:08:19 > 0:08:23'Six-year-old Sasha is one of those children.
0:08:23 > 0:08:25'His weight is dropping off him
0:08:25 > 0:08:28'and Nikolai is at a loss as to what to do.'
0:08:29 > 0:08:34He's so tiny, isn't he? He's so tiny.
0:08:35 > 0:08:39Sasha's parents left him behind at the maternity hospital
0:08:39 > 0:08:43- because he had so many problems. - Uh-huh.- So many health problems.
0:08:43 > 0:08:46He doesn't like to be touched.
0:08:48 > 0:08:51Also he's got something like hyperflexibility.
0:08:51 > 0:08:56You know, when all the hips and joints can be twisted inside out.
0:08:58 > 0:09:03I think you like being touched. Yes, I do.
0:09:04 > 0:09:07You're a tiny thing.
0:09:11 > 0:09:15'Olga is medically responsible for all the children here.
0:09:15 > 0:09:20'It is hard to get qualified staff to work in remote institutes
0:09:20 > 0:09:25'and she had retired when Nikolai asked if she would become the institute's doctor five years ago.
0:09:25 > 0:09:29'She agreed, although she's actually a dentist.
0:09:57 > 0:09:59'Nastya has been bedridden for years.'
0:10:05 > 0:10:08Her rib cage is deformed
0:10:08 > 0:10:11and it's impossible to feed her through a tube.
0:10:15 > 0:10:19And her, basically, breathing channels
0:10:19 > 0:10:24are very narrow and twisted.
0:10:24 > 0:10:27Deformed from her birth. Oy.
0:10:28 > 0:10:34Ahh, she's... Oh...
0:10:34 > 0:10:38And she suffers from horrible bouts of epilepsy.
0:10:38 > 0:10:43- How long has she been here for? - Well, since she was five.
0:10:43 > 0:10:45Does she have parents?
0:10:45 > 0:10:48Yes, she is a social orphan.
0:10:48 > 0:10:53Her parents have given up their rights and they've never visited.
0:11:35 > 0:11:38'Nadia is ten.
0:11:38 > 0:11:40'She has a large cyst on her head
0:11:40 > 0:11:44'which means she cannot sit up or move around.
0:11:44 > 0:11:48'She simply lies here, watching and listening.'
0:11:48 > 0:11:50All her brain is in this cyst.
0:11:50 > 0:11:55A zdyes v cherepye nakhoditsya...zhidkost.
0:11:55 > 0:11:57And her skull...
0:11:57 > 0:12:02Basically what is left in her skull is liquid, she says.
0:12:02 > 0:12:05And just connective tissues,
0:12:05 > 0:12:10but the whole of her brain is outside in this cyst.
0:12:19 > 0:12:22She was seen by a consultant when she was still a baby.
0:12:46 > 0:12:50Can you imagine being one of these children, Olga?
0:12:50 > 0:12:52Can you imagine being him?
0:12:54 > 0:12:58Just there all day every day, for maybe 20 years.
0:13:00 > 0:13:01You know, or Sasha.
0:13:03 > 0:13:06You know, Sasha's never going to get better because, you know,
0:13:06 > 0:13:10at the end of the day, they are just left.
0:13:21 > 0:13:24'When a baby is abandoned at birth,
0:13:24 > 0:13:28'it's placed in a baby unit up to the age of three,
0:13:28 > 0:13:32'then moved to a children's home until five, before being
0:13:32 > 0:13:35'passed on to an institute like Nikolai's until adulthood.
0:13:38 > 0:13:42'According to Nikolai, where you go as an orphan is a bit of a lottery.
0:13:42 > 0:13:47'As a result, children who, with loving care, could have lived a normal life
0:13:47 > 0:13:50'end up alongside those with quite severe disabilities
0:13:50 > 0:13:53'and very different needs.
0:13:53 > 0:13:57'How you get looked after is also pot luck.
0:13:57 > 0:14:02'Most carers are untrained and, whilst some take an interest in the children they look after,
0:14:02 > 0:14:07'others do the minimum their job requires, just washing and feeding the children.
0:14:13 > 0:14:17'This institute has carers who do their best
0:14:17 > 0:14:21'but, with a ratio of nine children per carer, it's not an easy job.
0:14:25 > 0:14:27'Under the Soviet system,
0:14:27 > 0:14:32'it was widely accepted that institutionalised care for disabled children
0:14:32 > 0:14:35'was potentially better than parental care.
0:14:36 > 0:14:40'Parents were considered ignorant in the field of raising children
0:14:40 > 0:14:44'and, although it was accepted that parents had the right to bring up
0:14:44 > 0:14:47'their own children, this was seen as the delegated right of the state.
0:15:06 > 0:15:08'Today, disabled children like Lyosha
0:15:08 > 0:15:12'invariably grow up with the state as their guardian.'
0:15:24 > 0:15:26Da.
0:15:38 > 0:15:42'Lyosha and Katya are the best of friends
0:15:42 > 0:15:46'and spend a lot of time together.
0:15:46 > 0:15:48'Their parents have never visited.
0:16:30 > 0:16:34'The present government says it's in favour of deinstitutionalisation
0:16:34 > 0:16:37'but, despite this, according to UNICEF,
0:16:37 > 0:16:43'the number of children in institutions has doubled in the past ten years.
0:16:43 > 0:16:45'Poverty, unemployment, alcoholism
0:16:45 > 0:16:50'and drug use are the main reasons for children being abandoned.
0:17:44 > 0:17:48'Around an hour's drive from the nearest town, this institute,
0:17:48 > 0:17:52'like many in the former Eastern Bloc, feels hidden away.
0:17:53 > 0:17:57'The living area for the orphans is divided into different buildings,
0:17:57 > 0:18:00'separating the bedridden, the disabled and the adults.
0:18:00 > 0:18:05'Nikolai has fought to secure extra funding for the children in his care
0:18:05 > 0:18:12'and in fact this institute receives around 40% more per head than the average for the region.
0:18:14 > 0:18:17'But when one of Nikolai's children has to go to hospital
0:18:17 > 0:18:22'he must supply all the food, nappies and medication for the duration of their stay.
0:18:24 > 0:18:28'Three very sick children recently arrived at the institute.'
0:18:29 > 0:18:33No-one was hiding the fact that these kids were sent here to die.
0:18:33 > 0:18:35Two of them have already died.
0:18:35 > 0:18:38'Two quickly died but the remaining child, Margarita,
0:18:38 > 0:18:42'is very unwell in the local hospital.
0:18:42 > 0:18:46'We are on our way to see Margarita but we have to film secretly
0:18:46 > 0:18:51'because Nikolai is anxious that she's not getting the treatment she needs.'
0:18:53 > 0:18:58Basically the level of oxygen in her blood is very low.
0:18:58 > 0:19:00This is the doctor.
0:19:00 > 0:19:05He said that at the moment the state of this child is kind of...satisfactory.
0:19:14 > 0:19:19If her temperature goes down, she will be sent in this condition back to the internat, which...
0:19:19 > 0:19:23It's not a hospital. The internat is not a hospital.
0:19:26 > 0:19:28I don't understand.
0:19:28 > 0:19:30Why can't you have the responsibility
0:19:30 > 0:19:33to try to keep the child in hospital until she improves,
0:19:33 > 0:19:35with or without a temperature?
0:20:01 > 0:20:04"I don't know. I don't decide."
0:20:04 > 0:20:06MARGARITA SPLUTTERS
0:20:36 > 0:20:38'A senior paediatrician joined us.'
0:20:40 > 0:20:42I am not a doctor but I can see from looking at her
0:20:42 > 0:20:46that she's in very chronic condition.
0:20:46 > 0:20:49This child... You know, she could die.
0:20:49 > 0:20:52So, whether she's got a temperature or not,
0:20:52 > 0:20:56I cannot understand how two doctors could send her
0:20:56 > 0:21:00out of the hospital to an institute where there's no medication.
0:21:00 > 0:21:04Can you please try explaining this to me?
0:21:08 > 0:21:11"This is not our level of solving problems."
0:21:22 > 0:21:24So doctors don't make the decisions?
0:22:14 > 0:22:19'Margarita has parents, as too do most of the children
0:22:19 > 0:22:22'and young adults living at Nikolai's institute.
0:22:27 > 0:22:30'When a child reaches 18,
0:22:30 > 0:22:33'it is the norm to be moved to an adult institute,
0:22:33 > 0:22:38'but Nikolai tries to offer as many as he can a continued life here,
0:22:38 > 0:22:40'rather than letting the authorities take charge,
0:22:40 > 0:22:43'scattering them across the country
0:22:43 > 0:22:47'into big, unfamiliar adult institutes or old people's homes.
0:23:21 > 0:23:24'Whilst filming with these adults,
0:23:24 > 0:23:29'I became aware of a status in Ukraine that appears to hold young people in the system
0:23:29 > 0:23:32'even when they are capable of living in society.
0:23:32 > 0:23:37'Some young people are officially given the status of "incapacitated" by the court.
0:23:41 > 0:23:46'An individual may be categorised as incapacitated if they are
0:23:46 > 0:23:51'judged to be unaware of their actions or not in control of them.
0:23:51 > 0:23:55'Most of Nikolai's adults have this status and for many of them
0:23:55 > 0:23:59'I would not have questioned their need for long-term care,
0:23:59 > 0:24:03'but it seems this status is also given to some who are
0:24:03 > 0:24:07'quite capable of being integrated into society.
0:24:50 > 0:24:54'Tatyana Makarova, a Ukrainian businesswoman
0:24:54 > 0:24:57'and leading expert in the gas supply industry,
0:24:57 > 0:25:00'has been trying to help orphans in Ukraine for over a decade now.
0:25:00 > 0:25:04'Her mobile telephone number is constantly passed around the inmates
0:25:04 > 0:25:07'as someone who will listen and try and help.
0:25:08 > 0:25:11'She focuses on helping the incapacitated orphans,
0:25:11 > 0:25:18'young adults who are held by the state in psychic institutes and old people's homes.
0:25:51 > 0:25:54'Tatyana phoned the mobiles of two incapacitated young men
0:25:54 > 0:25:59'she has been trying to help who are being kept in an old people's home.
0:25:59 > 0:26:02'She asked them if they would be willing to meet with us secretly,
0:26:02 > 0:26:06'as she knew they would never get permission to talk to us officially,
0:26:06 > 0:26:09'because they are regarded as not being responsible for their actions.
0:26:09 > 0:26:12'They agreed, and so we met them
0:26:12 > 0:26:16'in a maize field near the institute for old people where they now live.'
0:26:29 > 0:26:37How old were you when you were diagnosed as mentally incapacitated?
0:26:43 > 0:26:49'Now in his mid-30s, Lyonya was first sent to the old people's home 15 years ago.
0:27:01 > 0:27:05'But conditions here are not as bad as in the Novosavitski psychiatric home
0:27:05 > 0:27:08'where Lyonya was confined in 2007.
0:27:10 > 0:27:13'He claims antipsychotic drugs were misused there as punishment.'
0:28:01 > 0:28:06What kind of work did you have to do at the institute?
0:28:23 > 0:28:26How many of your friends also suffered this punishment?
0:28:35 > 0:28:37What was the worst thing you witnessed?
0:29:07 > 0:29:13'It's one thing to be mentally unwell and to need to live in an environment with carers for life
0:29:13 > 0:29:16'but it's another if you are capable of independent living
0:29:16 > 0:29:19'and you are held by the system against your will.
0:29:24 > 0:29:28'We were about to talk to Lyonya's friend, Slava,
0:29:28 > 0:29:31'also an inmate at the same geriatric institute.'
0:29:31 > 0:29:34Is that a long way away, that person's voice and dog?
0:29:48 > 0:29:53'The institute's director had got wind that outsiders were in the area.'
0:30:22 > 0:30:27We don't have any rights because he is incapacitated.
0:30:43 > 0:30:47OK, we'd better get the camera and go.
0:30:49 > 0:30:53- We'd better shift quickly because... - Yeah, they called the police.
0:30:53 > 0:30:58- Have they done it already? - They might just threaten, but it's better for us to go.- Exactly.
0:30:59 > 0:31:01But, erm, what...
0:31:01 > 0:31:04Tak, nam podozhdit za predelu oblasti nado vyekhat, vy schitaetye?
0:31:04 > 0:31:07'We called Tatyana.'
0:31:07 > 0:31:11She says they are capable of anything.
0:31:11 > 0:31:16They can call the police and they can take away your camera.
0:31:16 > 0:31:19So what does she think is the worst-case scenario?
0:31:19 > 0:31:22Kak vy dumayetye? Oni seychas nas nashli?
0:31:22 > 0:31:26Tatyana says that they can lock them up
0:31:26 > 0:31:30in an institution for mentally disabled
0:31:30 > 0:31:37and give them more injections of aminazine and haloperidol.
0:31:37 > 0:31:40I'm asking what we can do actually to protect them,
0:31:40 > 0:31:45what she can do or what we can do, because we are really worried what will happen to them.
0:31:45 > 0:31:48But they have her telephone number,
0:31:48 > 0:31:50so she's the first point of contact for them, right,
0:31:50 > 0:31:55- so they will get in touch with her if anything changes, correct? - It's unpredictable, she said.
0:32:09 > 0:32:11Tatyana says that basically
0:32:11 > 0:32:16when orphans graduate from orphanages there is nowhere to go for them.
0:32:16 > 0:32:20Nowhere to go. And she says it's very easy to tuck them away
0:32:20 > 0:32:26in these sorts of institutions because they are...free labour.
0:32:28 > 0:32:32Tatyana says any resistance from the lads
0:32:32 > 0:32:36has always resulted in them being punished.
0:32:36 > 0:32:42What I don't understand is why she seems to be fighting this battle alone.
0:32:42 > 0:32:45Where's the attention of the rest of the country?
0:32:45 > 0:32:47Ministers, government, NGOs.
0:32:47 > 0:32:50Where is everybody else when it comes to this?
0:32:50 > 0:32:56Tatyana says that, "I have appealed to so many institutions and people,
0:32:56 > 0:33:01"and basically...no response. They don't care."
0:33:02 > 0:33:06Has Tatyana heard anything from the lads since we left?
0:33:06 > 0:33:09She tried to get in touch with those lads but she couldn't,
0:33:09 > 0:33:12they don't answer their mobile phones.
0:33:12 > 0:33:14She will keep trying
0:33:14 > 0:33:18but, as it is at the moment, she doesn't know what's happening to them
0:33:18 > 0:33:23and she says, "I am praying to God that everything will end well."
0:33:54 > 0:33:57'Nikolai knows that many of his orphans are destined for
0:33:57 > 0:34:02'the kind of institute that Lyonya and Slava live in.
0:34:10 > 0:34:13'But for a small group of Nikolai's boys
0:34:13 > 0:34:16'there is hope for a better life.
0:34:16 > 0:34:19'Nikolai has selected some of his more capable
0:34:19 > 0:34:24'as boys with the most potential to learn and to develop.
0:34:24 > 0:34:26'He wants to prevent them from becoming
0:34:26 > 0:34:31'yet more institutionalised adults, seen as incapable of learning,
0:34:31 > 0:34:37'so he has plans to move a selected group into a house being renovated on the campus of the institute
0:34:37 > 0:34:39'and educate them.
0:34:43 > 0:34:47'Nikolai managed to get donations from Russia for the renovation.
0:34:47 > 0:34:49'The Ukrainian government also contributed
0:34:49 > 0:34:52'after Nikolai highlighted how things need to change.
0:34:52 > 0:34:57'It's a huge responsibility to take on in such a remote place
0:34:57 > 0:35:01'but Nikolai wants to start giving his children a better life
0:35:01 > 0:35:03'and this is the first step.
0:35:04 > 0:35:10'The boys will live and learn together side-by-side as an extended family.'
0:36:08 > 0:36:13When you think about moving into the little house, what feelings do you get inside you?
0:36:24 > 0:36:28Are you going to help when you're in the small house?
0:36:31 > 0:36:33You'd like to help the staff?
0:36:41 > 0:36:44'The boys will move into the group home in a few weeks
0:36:44 > 0:36:49'but in the meantime life continues unchanged.
0:37:04 > 0:37:10'Sergei is 15 and was handed over to the state by his parents as a small child.
0:37:11 > 0:37:15'His notes say that he has been diagnosed with oligophrenia.
0:37:15 > 0:37:19'This is a Soviet-era diagnosis, not recognised in the West.
0:37:19 > 0:37:23'It translates as feeble-minded.
0:37:23 > 0:37:27'Though his files also state that Sergei dreams of having a family
0:37:27 > 0:37:29'and gets angry when he's ignored.
0:37:31 > 0:37:33'He appears to be very capable
0:37:33 > 0:37:36'and he has a real interest in anything technical.
0:37:36 > 0:37:38'In the new group home,
0:37:38 > 0:37:43'Sergei has been told that there will be a computer for him to use.
0:37:48 > 0:37:52'Sasha is the leader of the boys moving into the group home
0:37:52 > 0:37:54'and is very popular and caring.
0:37:54 > 0:37:59'His file says that he suffers from hydrocephalus and a degree of idiocy
0:37:59 > 0:38:04'but also notes that he is very cooperative and very helpful to the staff.
0:38:07 > 0:38:10'With so many to look after and a lack of individual attention
0:38:10 > 0:38:15'and stimulation, institutionalisation sets in,
0:38:15 > 0:38:20'with the boys showing classic behaviour like rocking and self-harming.
0:39:24 > 0:39:30'In 2006, when Ukraine ratified the UN Convention on Inhuman or Degrading Treatment,
0:39:30 > 0:39:37'the government promised to create a system of independent monitoring of institutes within a year.
0:39:37 > 0:39:38'But, six years later,
0:39:38 > 0:39:43'human rights groups say that no effective system is in place.
0:39:49 > 0:39:53'Around 80,000 children are thought to be in residential care in Ukraine,
0:39:53 > 0:39:56'though official figures are unclear.
0:40:00 > 0:40:04'Institutional life often lacks any real structure.
0:40:04 > 0:40:09'There is little attempt to integrate the orphans into the local community.
0:40:09 > 0:40:13'They tend to be hidden away from society, without education
0:40:13 > 0:40:17'or developmental care and without sufficient stimulation.
0:40:17 > 0:40:20'It's inevitable the children will go downhill.
0:40:21 > 0:40:24'It's three months since we were last here
0:40:24 > 0:40:28'and life at Nikolai's institute is particularly stressful
0:40:28 > 0:40:31'because he has such very sick children to take care of,
0:40:31 > 0:40:35'yet this is officially a non-medical establishment.
0:40:39 > 0:40:43'Today, however, there's a good feeling around the campus,
0:40:43 > 0:40:46'as Sergei, Sasha and the rest of the boys are rehearsing
0:40:46 > 0:40:50'for the opening ceremony of the group home in a few weeks' time.
0:41:25 > 0:41:28'Nikolai has just learned that a surprise educational assessment
0:41:28 > 0:41:32'by the local authorities is taking place today
0:41:32 > 0:41:37'and the children going into the group home have been named as those to be assessed.
0:41:37 > 0:41:42'Everyone is worried that this assessment could jeopardise the move of some of the boys
0:41:42 > 0:41:45'if they are categorised as not capable of learning.
0:41:45 > 0:41:50'Sasha is the first and is very nervous.'
0:42:39 > 0:42:40"Ahh."
0:42:43 > 0:42:46Gromko, "Ahh."
0:42:46 > 0:42:49- I yeshchye skazhi, "Aah."- Ahh.
0:43:31 > 0:43:35'Each of the rest of the boys is then assessed.'
0:44:15 > 0:44:18What happens after these assessments have been made?
0:44:41 > 0:44:45'The purpose of the assessment was not explained to Nikolai,
0:44:45 > 0:44:47'nor was he told how the boys had performed,
0:44:47 > 0:44:54'but hopefully all the boys will be allowed to move into the new group home as planned.
0:45:01 > 0:45:05'Three months have passed since we were last in Ukraine
0:45:05 > 0:45:10'and Tatyana has been continuing to fight for the freedom of the incapacitated.
0:45:10 > 0:45:14'She has successfully managed to get a handful of young men
0:45:14 > 0:45:17'out of the institutes where they were being held
0:45:17 > 0:45:20'by arranging to transfer their guardianship.
0:45:22 > 0:45:26'Tatyana has arranged for us to meet Boris.
0:45:26 > 0:45:28'He is officially incapacitated
0:45:28 > 0:45:33'but while he was living in an institute a worker, Zinaida, got to know him
0:45:33 > 0:45:38'and, with Tatyana's help, was able to take over Boris's guardianship.'
0:45:38 > 0:45:40- Zdravstvuytye.- Dobriy dyen.
0:45:40 > 0:45:44'Born in the Soviet era, Boris has never been happier
0:45:44 > 0:45:47'than living here with Zinaida, who he calls Mother,
0:45:47 > 0:45:50'and her mother, who he calls Grandmother.
0:45:50 > 0:45:54'He is so very proud to have a family at last.
0:45:54 > 0:45:58'His dream is to be rid of his incapacitated status
0:45:58 > 0:46:01'so he can enjoy the basic rights of those living free in society.'
0:46:03 > 0:46:05This is where Boris sleeps.
0:46:12 > 0:46:14He is growing seeds here, you see.
0:46:23 > 0:46:27'Boris has a friend, Misha, who is also incapacitated.
0:46:27 > 0:46:32'They were in an institute together and Tatyana also found him a guardian,
0:46:32 > 0:46:35'who has allowed him to come and stay with Boris.
0:49:47 > 0:49:51'Boris had no idea he was incapacitated
0:49:51 > 0:49:54'until Zinaida tried to become his guardian.
0:51:14 > 0:51:17'Boris was an inmate of the same old people's home
0:51:17 > 0:51:20'that Lyonya and Slava from the maize field still live in.
0:54:12 > 0:54:17'Nikolai hopes that by giving some of his children the chance to live in a group home
0:54:17 > 0:54:21'they may escape the kind of life in an adult institute
0:54:21 > 0:54:23'that Boris had to endure.
0:54:27 > 0:54:31'Today, the boys selected for the group home are moving in.
0:54:39 > 0:54:42'It is a day of mixed emotions for Lyosha.
0:54:42 > 0:54:47'He is starting a new life in a small group home just a few hundred yards away
0:54:47 > 0:54:50'but he is leaving his best friend, Katya, behind.'
0:56:50 > 0:56:52Poshli. Natashye, do svidaniya.
0:57:06 > 0:57:11THEY SPEAK IN RUSSIAN
0:57:57 > 0:58:00HE GASPS
0:58:43 > 0:58:44HE SPEAKS IN RUSSIAN
0:58:44 > 0:58:47'For the first time in their lives,
0:58:47 > 0:58:51'all these boys will get regular schooling.'
0:59:01 > 0:59:03DOG BARKS
1:01:47 > 1:01:50'According to an independent sociological institute,
1:01:50 > 1:01:53'at least 20% of those labelled as incapacitated
1:01:53 > 1:01:57'are perfectly capable of independent living.
1:01:58 > 1:02:01'While Boris waits for his next court date,
1:02:01 > 1:02:05'he is enjoying sharing some time with Misha in the local community.'
1:03:24 > 1:03:27Takiye dela.
1:03:32 > 1:03:36'Tatyana feels that the fate of the incapacitated
1:03:36 > 1:03:40'reflects a system that sees them as worthless throwaway people.
1:03:43 > 1:03:47'It's been three months since we last saw Sasha.
1:03:47 > 1:03:49'He is weaker now.'
1:03:49 > 1:03:55He eats well but he's losing weight and they can't explain why.
1:04:00 > 1:04:04I just find it astounding that a professional would look at him
1:04:04 > 1:04:08and the state of him, and say, "You're fine.
1:04:08 > 1:04:11"You can go back to the institute. You're fine."
1:04:44 > 1:04:46MISHA LAUGHS
1:05:02 > 1:05:04BANGING
1:05:08 > 1:05:11'Regardless of the growing cyst on Nadia's head,
1:05:11 > 1:05:13'she still manages to stay cheerful.
1:05:56 > 1:06:01'Two of Nikolai's bedridden, Nastya and Margarita,
1:06:01 > 1:06:05'are both back in hospital, having had a short spell in the institute.
1:06:08 > 1:06:12'Nastya is due to be discharged in the next day or two
1:06:12 > 1:06:17'but is in need of more nappies, so we head to the hospital with her supplies.'
1:06:17 > 1:06:19Doesn't seem like too many doctors in here!
1:06:19 > 1:06:24- Yes, doesn't seem like there's anybody here at all.- No!
1:06:24 > 1:06:26Ghost town.
1:06:26 > 1:06:30'When we arrive, we can't find any staff.'
1:06:31 > 1:06:33Have we lost her?
1:06:33 > 1:06:36No, no, she's trying to find someone from the medical staff.
1:06:41 > 1:06:45- Can you smell her, Olga?- Mm-hm.
1:06:46 > 1:06:49Just smells like sort of rotting skin.
1:06:49 > 1:06:51Yeah.
1:06:54 > 1:06:56Bless her.
1:06:57 > 1:07:03She's due back to Nikolai's on Monday. So that's three days.
1:07:08 > 1:07:11Nastya.
1:07:13 > 1:07:14Nastya.
1:07:19 > 1:07:23SHE BREATHES WITH DIFFICULTY Nastya.
1:07:33 > 1:07:36She just can't breathe. Nastya.
1:07:37 > 1:07:43I don't understand how she's alone, without anybody around.
1:07:43 > 1:07:46I mean, we've just walked straight in here from outside.
1:07:46 > 1:07:50- I just don't understand. - Oy, Bozhe, Bozhe.
1:07:52 > 1:07:57- Inna, she's a daughter of one of the nurses.- OK.
1:07:57 > 1:07:59And she said that they all left the building
1:07:59 > 1:08:03and went to a different building to have a staff meeting.
1:08:03 > 1:08:07- Right.- So she's looking after the premises at the moment.
1:08:09 > 1:08:10Nyet.
1:08:15 > 1:08:20And Inna is an accountant. She's not a doctor.
1:08:21 > 1:08:25How many children are on the corridor?
1:08:29 > 1:08:31- 15.- Right.
1:08:50 > 1:08:52'While we're at the hospital,
1:08:52 > 1:08:55'Nikolai calls with some very bad news.
1:08:55 > 1:09:02'One of the bedridden boys, who shared the same room as Nastya back at the institute, has died.
1:09:02 > 1:09:04'He was just 11 years old.
1:09:09 > 1:09:12'He was given up by his parents to the state,
1:09:12 > 1:09:14'so Nikolai's job now is to bury him.'
1:09:17 > 1:09:23What diagnosis do they give at the hospital as to the cause of death?
1:09:23 > 1:09:27- He suffered from...hydrocephalia. - OK, yeah.
1:09:27 > 1:09:32Hydrocephalia, you know, it's swelling of the brain, yes.
1:09:32 > 1:09:35And that's the official diagnosis.
1:09:35 > 1:09:41But it's kind of strange because... Olga, for example, the doctor,
1:09:41 > 1:09:44she told me that on Thursday they were able to play with him,
1:09:44 > 1:09:49and this is not a child who looked like he was about to die.
1:09:49 > 1:09:53He was not considered really sick.
1:10:05 > 1:10:09'It is normal in Ukraine for an institute to have its own cemetery,
1:10:09 > 1:10:13'but it feels less normal that it's not just the old who are buried,
1:10:13 > 1:10:17'but so many young children, whilst in state care, are also buried.'
1:10:20 > 1:10:27- More than 400 children are buried... - From the institute? - From the institute.
1:10:27 > 1:10:31- Good grief, Nikolai. - Three children died this year.
1:10:32 > 1:10:38He was born on the 7th December 2000, and only on Thursday,
1:10:38 > 1:10:42just a few days ago, they played with him, and one of the nurses,
1:10:42 > 1:10:46she liked to play with him because he responded very well.
1:10:46 > 1:10:53The whole of his short life, Nikolai says, was spent around a bed,
1:10:53 > 1:10:56and outside, just a little bit of outside.
1:10:56 > 1:11:00But otherwise he lived and died from his bed, didn't he?
1:11:00 > 1:11:04- Because he was bedridden and stayed there for the majority of the time. - Yeah.
1:11:04 > 1:11:07- Yeah.- Ohh.
1:11:07 > 1:11:09It's so sad.
1:12:10 > 1:12:14'Ukraine is minus 20 degrees in the depths of winter.'
1:12:22 > 1:12:24DOG BARKS
1:12:37 > 1:12:39'Tatyana has arranged for us to meet with Dennis,
1:12:39 > 1:12:43'another young incapacitated man, who Tatyana is helping with
1:12:43 > 1:12:47'the legal challenge of trying to get his status reviewed.
1:12:50 > 1:12:53'Dennis hopes he may soon be categorised as normal
1:12:53 > 1:12:59'and maybe recognised by the courts as somebody who can be responsible for his actions.
1:12:59 > 1:13:00'Dennis has cerebral palsy
1:13:00 > 1:13:03'and has been in and out of different institutes,
1:13:03 > 1:13:06'running away several times, and he ended up
1:13:06 > 1:13:09'living on the streets as a preference to life in an institute.
1:13:29 > 1:13:34'Like Lyonya, Dennis was sent to Novosavitski psychiatric institute.
1:13:56 > 1:13:59'An inquiry found that one inmate was beaten to death
1:13:59 > 1:14:02'and the institute is now under new management.
1:14:02 > 1:14:07'The institute insists that sedatives are no longer used as punishment,
1:14:07 > 1:14:09'that there is no more forced labour
1:14:09 > 1:14:12'and no deaths as a result of sedative misuse.
1:14:12 > 1:14:17'They say there's no physical punishment and patients take no part in burials,
1:14:17 > 1:14:21'but human-rights activists claim that there were many more
1:14:21 > 1:14:25'unexplained deaths which have never been investigated.
1:14:49 > 1:14:53'Tatyana has worked relentlessly to get both Dennis and Boris
1:14:53 > 1:14:57'into the courts to fight for their official freedom.
1:14:57 > 1:15:01'Until now, the incapacitated status has effectively imprisoned
1:15:01 > 1:15:04'many young men and women in the system for life,
1:15:04 > 1:15:08'but an inmate in an institution in the east of Ukraine
1:15:08 > 1:15:12'has just had her incapacitated label removed by the court.
1:15:12 > 1:15:16'This is the first time ever that an inmate of an institute
1:15:16 > 1:15:18'has had this status revoked.
1:15:18 > 1:15:20'If Tatyana can realise this for Dennis and Boris,
1:15:20 > 1:15:24'it will be an extraordinary achievement.
1:15:37 > 1:15:40'Dennis was one of those she rescued from an old people's home.
1:18:21 > 1:18:24'The roads to Nikolai's institute are perilous in the winter.
1:18:24 > 1:18:28'A journey that took one hour in the summer now takes six.
1:18:29 > 1:18:31'The winter brings big problems for Nikolai,
1:18:31 > 1:18:36'as he finds it difficult to get out of the institute and onto the main road
1:18:36 > 1:18:41'to provide any of his hospitalised children with their supplies of food, nappies and medication.
1:18:42 > 1:18:46'All this makes Dr Olga's job even more difficult.'
1:18:50 > 1:18:55Margarita is very unwell. She's taken to district hospital, Olga says.
1:18:55 > 1:18:57- She's very worried.- Where did she go?
1:19:08 > 1:19:12- Nastya and Margarita. - Nastya's gone as well?
1:19:12 > 1:19:16Yeah, and she says, you know, she is in a very bad state.
1:19:17 > 1:19:20'Nikolai arrived with more bad news.
1:19:20 > 1:19:23'Nadia's been suffering a lot of discomfort with her head cyst.'
1:19:57 > 1:20:00Ahh, she's... Ohh.
1:20:19 > 1:20:23Nanichka, skazhi, "Rita."
1:20:26 > 1:20:29- Rita.- "Rita." Umnichka.
1:20:30 > 1:20:33Privyet. Da. Privyet.
1:20:46 > 1:20:50'But Nikolai does have some good news to share with us.
1:20:50 > 1:20:53'Sasha is being adopted by a family from abroad.
1:20:53 > 1:20:57'He is the first child ever to be adopted from this institute.
1:20:58 > 1:21:02'Plans are beginning for a second group home,
1:21:02 > 1:21:05'so that Katya and Larisa can benefit, too.
1:21:05 > 1:21:07'But it all boils down to getting enough money,
1:21:07 > 1:21:10'not just to set it up, but to sustain it for years to come.
1:21:13 > 1:21:17'Nikolai took three years to fundraise for the boys' house.
1:21:19 > 1:21:24'He is keen to show us how the boys are getting along.
1:21:42 > 1:21:46'It is quite extraordinary to witness their progress.
1:21:46 > 1:21:50'For the first time, these boys are attending daily classes
1:21:50 > 1:21:56'and learning skills that will hopefully one day help them to live independently.'
1:22:08 > 1:22:11- TEACHER:- Plyus odin.
1:22:12 > 1:22:14Odin, dva, tri.
1:22:14 > 1:22:16Tri.
1:22:50 > 1:22:51Pokushay.
1:23:58 > 1:23:59And then?
1:24:22 > 1:24:26'Whilst the group home gives the boys a much better life for now,
1:24:26 > 1:24:29it is worrying that all of this could be in vain,
1:24:29 > 1:24:35'should they end up in adult institutes like those described by Lyonya, Boris and Dennis.
1:24:37 > 1:24:41'As for the disabled orphans, unless institutes like Nikolai's
1:24:41 > 1:24:45'are given suitably qualified medical personnel and facilities,
1:24:45 > 1:24:51'then it seems Ukraine's weakest members will continue to move in and out of hospital
1:24:51 > 1:24:55'before coming to rest in the institutes' cemeteries.
1:25:03 > 1:25:08'Nikolai received a home movie of Sasha from his new parents overseas
1:25:08 > 1:25:11'and we had shown it to the staff earlier on.
1:25:11 > 1:25:14'But just as we were preparing to leave
1:25:14 > 1:25:18'three more carers approached us and asked if they could also
1:25:18 > 1:25:22'see the movie of Sasha, as we had a copy on our laptop.
1:26:08 > 1:26:10'Sasha is the lucky one.
1:26:10 > 1:26:13'He has a family of his own now
1:26:13 > 1:26:16'and he has a chance of having a fulfilling life.'
1:28:29 > 1:28:31Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd