With children's homes being hit by cluster bombs, babies sleeping six to a cot and Ukraine's vulnerable youngsters living in constant fear of a nuclear attack, The Sunday Mirror has launched its Orphan Appeal.
Aimed at providing a safe route out of Ukraine for the 100,000 orphans currently placed in 700 children's homes, the national newspaper's campaign is also hoping to save the terrified youngsters from the associated threats of beatings, rape, torture and trafficking, as keeping a watch on their movements becomes increasingly difficult. With that in mind, the Reach plc title is assisting the work of British charity Hope and Homes for Children amid the Russian invasion of the country.
Before Vladimir Putin ordered the attacks on Ukraine, it already had the highest number of orphans - half of whom are disabled - of any European nation and that number is growing every day as more and more children lose both parents to the war. Only 2,500 have been evacuated so far with Hope and Homes having managed to move 100 to safety from Dnipro and Vorzel.
