Shocking footage shows disabled teenagers wearing nappies and tied to benches at brutal Ukrainian orphanages.
The BBC found widespread abuse and neglect when it visited five centres in the war-torn country.
Some of the residents had been lying in their cots for years, while others had their hands bound together.
Around 100,000 children and young people live in orphanages in Ukraine, even though many of them are not actually orphans.
The institutions became overcrowded this year after taking in vulnerable individuals fleeing the Russian invasion.
Vasyl Velychko, who has epilepsy and learning difficulties, was tied to a bench and wearing a nappy when the BBC visited his orphanage.
The 18-year-old rocked back and forth and screamed as the camera crew filmed him at the facility near the city of Chernivtsi.
Staff at the home did not react to his cries.
His parents told the BBC that he suffers regular seizures and can become aggressive.
The pair felt they had no choice but to give their son up due to a lack of support for disabled people in Ukraine.
Mum Maryna said she and her husband would “come home in tears” after visiting Vasyl during his first few years at the orphanage.
However, they have since learned to cope with the situation.
Although she said she was grateful to the institution, Maryna said: “Our children with disabilities should not be hidden away from society, behind these high walls."
Vasyl is one of the lucky ones in one sense- his parents still come to visit him, while many other children are left languishing without any visits from loved ones.
A second boy, who lay on a bench near Vasyl, had his hands bound together by the sleeves of his jumper.
A pool of urine had collected beneath him, according to the BBC.
Reporters also visited another facility where disabled men in their 20s and 30s were lying in children’s cots.
They were spoon-fed by staff through the bars of their cots, which they rarely left.
Eric Rosenthal, CEO of the human rights group Disability Rights International (DRI), said some of the people at the facility were clearly malnourished.
Mr Rosenthal, who accompanied BBC reporters visiting the home, pointed out warped ankles and protruding ribs as tell-tale signs of malnutrition.
Oleh, who has cerebral palsy, was first sent to the orphanage as a child and had been lying in his bed for decades.
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The clear-thinking 43-year-old recognised one of the Disability Rights International investigators who had previously visited the facility seven years ago.
Ukraine was one of the poorest countries in Europe before its war with Russia.
The country's Government had pledged to improve its orphanages prior to the invasion.
However, the war brought planned reforms to a halt.
Watch Locked Away: Ukraine's Stolen Lives on BBC iPlayer here.
