"There was no ping pong in occupation, children don't even play soccer in the stadiums. Last month, their father finally died of AIDS, the same illness that killed their mother a decade ago, leaving them orphans. Moscow says it has gathered hundreds of thousands of orphans and vulnerable children there, taking them to Russia for their safety. Children whose parents die are the most urgent cases, because the Russian-installed occupation authorities will swiftly impose legal guardianship, said Save Ukraine's founder, Mykola Kuleba. Once they have Ukrainian passports sorted, they will go stay with their late father's ex-wife, now a refugee in Slovakia.

---

Persons: Ilona Pavliuk, Maksym, Ilona, didn't, tugging absentmindedly, haven't, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Mykola Kuleba, Peter Graff, Philippa Fletcher Organizations: REUTERS, KYIV, Valera, International Criminal Court, Save, Ukraine, Dnipro, Thomson Locations: Kyiv, Ukraine, Belarus, Vladyslav, Nova Kakhovka, Pishchane, Dnipro, Russia, Russian, Moscow, Hague, Save Ukraine, Slovakia, Ukrainian