Two young sisters have been hospitalised in critical condition after being severely poisoned with
alcohol in
Ukraine.
The four-year-old Maryna and her two-year-old sister Luda were found unconscious in the street in the village of Chaplynka.
Reports say the girls were left at risk of death after their father, named as Mykola, gave them wine for lunch.
The father is said to have been babysitting the children while their mother Olga undertook seasonal work in another region of the country.
On October 3rd, when his daughters asked for food at lunch time, Mykola, who was intoxicated at the time, filled their bottles with wine instead of milk, local media reported.
Soon after that, the girls were found unconscious near their house, neighbours said.
Tetiana Shotik, a woman living next door said to local media: 'The girls were lying motionless on the ground. We tried to wake them up but failed. There was a strong smell of alcohol and we called an ambulance.
Maryna and Luda were rushed to intensive care in life-threatening condition and diagnosed with acute alcohol poisoning.
Sergey Minaev, the head of the intensive care unit of Chaplyn Regional Hospital said: 'The girls were hospitalised in a state of alcoholic coma and were on the verge of death.
'We performed a series of necessary procedures and, fortunately, managed to save them.
'The children are being given medications and feel better. Their lives are not in danger now.'
Medical staff say the sisters were severely neglected and infected with lice.
A female orderly said: 'The girls were black from dirt. We spent two hours trying to wash it off.
Officers are now tracking the whereabouts of the girls’ mother Olga while social services are collecting documents to sue the parents and deprive them of parental rights.
Maryna and Luda are going to be placed inside recovery centre until the court has made a decision.
The father faces up to five years in prison if found guilty.
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