"I didn't know that children could die" - Mother who left her two children to starve to death and went away with lover says.

20-year-old mother Vladislava Podchapko left her daughter, 3-year-old Anna, and son, 23-months-old Daniil, at home without food while she stayed with her lover for nine days. When the mother returned, Daniil was dead and Anna was unconscious. The seriously ill girl was rushed to the hospital where she is expected to survive.




The children, both from the woman’s previous marriage, were said to have been heard screaming by neighbours, but they thought nothing of it. Evidence from the apartment where the children were locked up shows the children might have resorted to eating paper torn off the walls.


Podchapko, who is pregnant again, said when questioned by the police; "I didn't know that children could die." She has since been detained and faces up to eight years in prison for child neglect. The future of Anna will be decided by social care workers.