Unreported World: Ukraine: The Teenagers Who Live Underground

Series 8, episode 0

Reporter Marcel Theroux and director Suemay Oram travel to Ukraine, which has invested billions in infrastructure projects for this summer's European football championships. While the fans will enjoy the facilities, most of them won't know that living around them - and beneath their feet under the country's cities - are thousands of young people left on their own to survive dangerous, subterranean lives. Since the break-up of the Soviet Union, years of economic hardship have hurt Ukraine. The result has been a lost generation of teenagers who have run away from broken families, alcoholism and abuse. There are few accurate figures for the number of street children in Ukraine, as they live largely hidden lives. However, UNICEF has estimated that there could be as many as one hundred thousand. The teenagers suffer awful living conditions and embarrass the Ukrainian government.