In the Odesa region, social workers were charged in connection with the death of an infant from starvation

Prosecutors from the Odesa Regional Prosecutor’s Office have charged the head of the district Children’s Services Office with official negligence. According to the investigation, the official was aware of the unsatisfactory living conditions of children in one of the troubled families but failed to take measures to remove them from that environment and provide them with social support. She faces 5 to 8 years in prison for this offense.

In March 2026, a 23-year-old mother gave birth to her fourth son, who was not provided with proper care and nutrition. At one month old, the boy died in the hospital from severe protein-energy malnutrition and starvation, with no congenital abnormalities detected. Only after the tragedy were her three other sons, aged 4, 3, and 1.5 years, removed from her care and placed with a foster family.

Currently, the prosecutor’s office is seeking to have the official detained and removed from office, while the child’s mother remains under round-the-clock house arrest pending the court proceedings regarding willful failure to fulfill parental duties.

Source: Office of the Prosecutor General.

A mother of many children living in the Chortkiv District of the Ternopil region has been charged with willful neglect of parental duties. Two children, her live-in partner, and a girl who was visiting died after eating her mushroom pancakes. The woman faces up to eight years in prison.

A 39-year-old resident of the Rivne district will stand trial on charges of human trafficking and selling PVP while involving her own children. According to the investigation, the woman agreed to hand over her 11-year-old daughter and two sons, aged 9 and 14, for 60,000 hryvnias to be used for begging in Kyiv, and law enforcement officers detained her after she received 30,000 hryvnias.