Ukraine, appeal to find Sasha, 4, who disappeared while fleeing the war

Where is little Sasha? Alexander Zdanovich Yahno is 4 years old: traces of him were lost about twenty days ago while, with his grandmother, he was trying to escape from the bombings. Together, they were crossing the Dnieper River on a boat, which however was hit and sunk by the Russians. The grandmother was found dead, and no one has heard anything about Sasha anymore. The desperate parents are launching appeals after appeals to find their child: «Height about 110 cm, brown eyes, brown hair and a bob cut. Alexander disappeared on March 10, fleeing the Kiev region, along with his grandmother and six other people and two dogs, crossing the Dnieper River with a boat. Unfortunately the grandmother was found dead, the boat was also found. The child was the only one who wore a life jacket“.

Sasha could also be in Italy. To the Corriere della Sera a friend of her mother’s, Cristina, said: “The parents who remained at home are desperate. Who knows what happened, maybe he was shocked and didn’t speak anymore. The volunteers say that he ended up on the border with Poland, passing through L’viv and that other volunteers at the border they made him get on a bus to Italy with many children, all refugees. I have tried to contact various associations, including the Red Cross, but they all tell me that they cannot do much due to the identification of an unaccompanied child ».

So far, no one knows for sure if the baby is still in Ukraine or if he was taken abroad. The searches continue. Reports can be addressed to Mrs. Cristina ([email protected]).

According to UNICEF data, two million children were forced to flee Ukraine because of the war. “As the number of children fleeing their homes continues to rise,” tweeted the organization’s executive director, Catherine Russell, “we must remember that each of them needs protection, education, safety and support.”

Children make up half of all refugees from the war in Ukraine, according to UNICEF and UNHCR. More than 1.1 million minors arrived in Poland, and hundreds of thousands in Romania, Moldova, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. UNICEF also reports the increased risk of child trafficking and exploitation: «To try to reduce the risks that children and young people run, the” Blue Dots “are increasing in the countries hosting refugees, including Moldova, Romania and Slovakia. The “Blue Dots” are safe spaces that can provide information to traveling families, help identify unaccompanied and separated minors and guarantee their protection from exploitation and act as a hub for access to essential services ».

Unicef ​​estimates that beyond 2.5 million children are internally displaced in Ukraine. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights documented that more than 100 children were killed in the conflict and another 134 children were injured. But the real toll is likely to be much more serious.

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