Daniil (left) with his sister Anna had tried to escape from the locked flat. Photo / Facebook
Daniil (left) with his sister Anna had tried to escape from the locked flat. Photo / Facebook
A toddler starved to death and his 2-year-old sister was left with the body for three days after their mother left them alone and without food in her flat for nine days.
The mother, named as Vladislava Podchapko, 20, left her children only candles when she abandoned them in centralKiev, the Ukrainian capital, to be with her lover.
Her son Daniil, 23 months, died from hunger after six days and his sister, Anna, 2, remained alone in the flat with the body for another three days.
The girl was rushed to hospital on the point of death from starvation and is miraculously expected to survive.
"The girl was exhausted, she was very weak," said a doctor involved in her treatment.
Daniil (left), a boy aged 23 months, died from hunger after six days and his sister, Anna (right), two, remained alone in the flat with the body for another three days. Photo / Facebook
"She was immediately taken into hospital where we started intravenous feeding.
"She is better now and we can say that she will live. We have started her on tiny amounts of solid food."
Podchapko, who is thought to be either pregnant with her third child or already a mother-of-three, said when questioned by police: "I didn't know that children could die."
The mother has been detained and faces up to eight years in prison for child neglect.
The frightened and confused children had tried to escape from the locked flat, pulling and tearing at the front door.
Vladislava Podchapko, 20, left her children only candles when she abandoned them in central Kiev, the Ukrainian capital, to be with her lover. Photo / Facebook
Neighbours heard the children crying in the morning and evening, and there were unconfirmed claims they had called the police, who failed to respond.
The stranded children received no help, and are believed to have been found when their mother finally returned and officers arrived.
Podchapko's social media account is full of pictures of her children, and messages of love to them.
Ukrainian children rights envoy, Nikolay Kuleba, said the mother had taken her children out of a kindergarten, but social services reportedly failed to follow up any problems.
The mother did not appear to be short of money, boasting about owning an iPhone 6.
The children are from her previous marriage, and she since found a new boyfriend, and became pregnant by him.
Podchapko, who is thought to be either pregnant with her third child or already a mother-of-three, said when questioned by police: "I didn't know that children could die." Photo / Facebook
Anna's future will be decided by social care workers.
"Perhaps she will be sent to an orphanage, or given for adoption, or if her father can look after her, she may go to him," said a source.
Social media comments on her page demand that Podchapko should face the death penalty for neglecting her children.
People on her Facebook profile have expressed "disgust" at her actions in leaving her son and daughter alone, calling her a "sadist", "evil", an "animal" and telling her to "burn in hell".
