1st Place NPPA Best of Photojournalism Magazine Picture Story

Ukraine's Lost Generation

The difficult shift to a free-market economy has led to a rise in homeless children in many former communist countries. In Ukraine in the early 2000s, an alarming number of children were abandoned or forced onto the streets. Official estimates vary widely from 30,000 to 300,000, with some experts suggesting the true figure is even higher. These vulnerable children often endure sexual violence, drug abuse, malnutrition, police abuse, and harassment. They also engage in risky sexual activity, face forced sex and unintended pregnancies, and are susceptible to various infections, including HIV, STDs, and hepatitis.

For over three years, 9-year-old Artyom has called this Kyiv sewer home, never having the chance to attend school. His brother, bearing emotional and physical scars, is unwilling to return to their abusive, alcoholic father. To cope with persistent hunger, Artyom, much like other children in similar circumstances, huffs glue—a desperate attempt to kill their appetite and momentarily forget the grim reality of street life.

_{Suffering from morning sickness, Natasha Dzhuley, 16, wakes up after a night of prostitution. Though pregnant, a nervous Natasha claims that her abortion worked. Fearful of her pimps’ reaction to her pregnancy she drank several bottles of red wine and took a ‘very hot bath in which she bled.’ Natasha, like other girls work out of a mafiacontrolled flat where they are given clean clothes and instructed to bathe regularly.}-

Inhaling glue serves a tragic purpose for most of these children, not only numbing the emotional pain of their sad lives but also suppressing their hunger. They often inhale "in the box," a practice where the rancid fumes are trapped longer, thereby minimizing the amount of glue required and extending the duration of their high.

Denise Selivanov, 13, inhales glue while his younger brother Artyom Selivanov, 9, watches. After suffering years of abuse at the hands of their alcoholic father, Denise made the decision that life on the streets would be far easier than the misery they experienced at home.

Emotionally scarred and believing herself to be 13, Ruslana lives in constant fear of forced prostitution, seeking protection from older boys like 21-year-old Sasha against street pimps. Although there are no firm estimates for the number of street children, last year alone, over 120,000 young Ukrainian women were trafficked into sex slavery. This alarming figure means Ukraine has surpassed Latin America as the world's leading source of trafficked women.

Sasha, 16, momentarily breaks the monotony of his life to enjoy a "borrowed" scooter. However, the consequences for stealing are severe and unpredictable, ranging from beatings and arrests to the sewers—where many of these children live—being set on fire and made unsuitable for habitation.

A train underpass provides some shelter from the elements as the boys play cards and kill their hunger by huffing glue.

The glue takes its effect as Denise stumbles around in the near-pitch darkness of where he is sleeping for the night.

_{Suffering from a broken nose and bruised ribs Natasha whimpers in pain from the beatings she received from her pimp's men. Ruslana believes her beatings were a warning to other prostitutes to stay in line. Several days later the children watched helplessly as Natasha was dragged away by six men. Her boyfriend has not seen or heard from her since.}

While the other children sleep, 13-year-old Ruslana gathers hidden bottles to exchange for cash. Originally from the Carpathians, she and her two siblings were abandoned at a Kyiv rail station three years ago during their family's move to Russia. The children are secretly saving money, hoping to travel to Russia and find their sister.