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LAUGHTER

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These children are hiding in the
basement of a church in Ukraine.

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Russian forces found them.

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Then they disappeared.

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Thousands of Ukrainian children have
been taken to Russia

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since the war started.

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This investigation goes in search of
some of the missing, and follows a

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trail of evidence that leads to the
heart of power in Putin's Russia.

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Victoria Novikova is investigating
what happened to 48 children who

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went missing from Kherson.

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They disappeared after Russian
forces took control of the city.

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EXCITED SCREAMS

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This Russian footage shows
the children, all aged under five,

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being taken away.

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Shortly after the children were
taken, Ukrainian forces regained

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control of Kherson,
making it possible to go there.

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Victoria, who has a 15-year-old son,

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decided to investigate
the children's disappearance.

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Returning children back to
Ukraine from Russia is not easy.

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It involves complex negotiations
between two countries at war.

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Russia says it will only consider
returning a child if a parent,

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or legal guardian,
makes an application.

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Volunteers like Victoria are helping
the Ukrainian government.

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It's overwhelmed with cases.

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Victoria's found
the mother of a child

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taken from the children's home
in Kherson.

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Viktor was born with
a serious condition

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that made feeding him difficult.

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He was being cared for temporarily
at the children's home

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while he was waiting
for an operation.

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Olha and her husband couldn't rescue
their son from the children's home

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because of heavy fighting.

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They had to leave
Kherson without him.

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This is the first time Olha has seen
the footage of the children

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being taken away from the home.

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VOICES ON PHONE

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SHE SPEAKS UKRAINIAN

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SHE SOBS

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Viktor is one of around 20,000
children who, according to the

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Ukrainian government, have been
taken unlawfully by Russian forces

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since the start of the full-scale
invasion in 2022.

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The Russian government
disputes this figure,

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and denies deporting
Ukrainian children.

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Victoria is also investigating
the cases of children

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missing from other areas of Ukraine.

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Mariupol, a city still
occupied by Russian forces,

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was virtually destroyed.

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Children taken from there
have appeared on Russian television.

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The Russian government says
it moves Ukrainian

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children for their own safety...

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..and denies using them
for propaganda.

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CHEERING ON PHONE

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Victoria is on her way to meet
the family of another missing child.

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Nastya disappeared in Mariupol.

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This is Nastya's grandmother, Olena.

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VOICES ON PHONE

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LAUGHTER ON PHONE

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This is the last video of Nastya
and her parents in Mariupol.

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Shortly after the video
was recorded,

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the apartment block where
they lived was shelled.

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Rescuers couldn't find any
trace of Nastya or her parents.

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Three months later, Olena thought
she had found her granddaughter.

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A child who looked just like Nastya
was in a report on Russian

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television about Ukrainian children
being fostered by Russian families.

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PHONE RINGS

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Maria Lebedeva works with Victoria.

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She's in touch with Bohdan,
who was in Mariupol

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when Russian forces invaded.

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Both Bohdan's parents
died before the war.

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He was 16 and living in care
when Russian forces found him.

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It's 18 months
since Bohdan was taken.

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He is now living with a Russian
foster family.

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Victoria is trying to find out
more about what happened to the

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children taken from the home
in Kherson.

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MUSIC PLAYS, SINGING

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A local pastor, Pavel Smolyakov,

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said they could stay in the basement
of his church.

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There were rumours Russian forces
were looking for children.

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The pastor thought
they were being watched.

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The children spent
two months in hiding.

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Then Russian soldiers
arrived at the church.

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The man calling himself
the Navigator ordered the children

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be sent back to the children's home.

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Russian television gave an
extraordinary reason for the move.

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The man in charge, the Navigator,

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is called Igor Kastyukevich.

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He is a member of the
Russian parliament.

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Kastyukevich has been
sanctioned by the US

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and the UK for supporting
Putin's war in Ukraine.

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Three weeks later, a VIP from Moscow
arrived at the children's home.

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This is Anna Kuznetsova.

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She's a deputy head of
the Russian parliament.

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Working with the Ukrainian
government, Victoria has

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helped Olha lodge a request with
Russia for the return of her son.

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The Russian government insists
families travel to Russia

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to get their children back.

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Victoria wants Olha's sister,
Liudmyla, to go with her.

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Victoria and her assistant,
Diana, are also investigating

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what happened to another child
who went missing from the

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Kherson children's home.

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When the home was under
Russian control,

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it was run by this woman -
Tatiana Zavalska.

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She also hosted
visitors from Moscow.

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Victoria finds out
the woman in lilac also visited

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a children's hospital nearby.

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Dr Natalia Lyutikova was on duty the
day the woman in lilac turned up.

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At the time, a ten-month-old girl
from the children's home was

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being treated here for bronchitis.

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She was called Margarita.

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Margarita's mother had given up
custody of her daughter

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shortly after she was born.

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The woman in lilac took
a close interest in the little girl.

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Within a week of the visit,

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Margarita was discharged
from the hospital...

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..back to the children's home.

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The next morning, armed men
arrived and drove Margarita away.

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It all happened two months before

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the other children were taken
from the home.

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Bohdan's desperate
to return to Ukraine.

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He's already tried
to escape from Russia.

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After a week's silence,
he got back in touch.

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THUNDER RUMBLES

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A Ukrainian lawyer,
Kateryna Bobrovska,

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heard about his case
and agreed to help him.

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KATERYNA ON PHONE:

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BOHDAN ON PHONE:

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Bohdan was stopped
at a Russian border post.

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BOHDAN ON PHONE:

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NEWS ANCHOR:

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Russian television filmed Bohdan

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after he was returned to the
foster family he was staying with.

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The TV report said his failed escape

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was really a Ukrainian plot
to kidnap him.

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The TV report claimed
Ukrainian secret agents

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had threatened to kill
members of Bohdan's family

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if he didn't go back to Ukraine.

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Maria Lvova-Belova is President
Putin's Children's Commissioner.

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She claimed Bohdan was grateful
to Russia for saving him.

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Bohdan has now been made
a Russian citizen.

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It comes with a big risk.

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Kateryna's been getting secret
messages for months from Bohdan.

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Olha has news about her missing son.

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Viktor's in Crimea,

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which was seized by Russia
from Ukraine in 2014.

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Olha now has permission
from the Russian government

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to go and get Viktor.

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Ukraine says so far around 400
children have been returned.

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The Russian government
says it's many more.

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Olha and her sister Liudmyla
are about to begin

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the long journey to Russia.

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First, they're going
to Ukraine's capital, Kyiv.

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It's time for Olha to say goodbye
to her daughter Veronika.

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Victoria's got news.

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Olena's granddaughter may have been
seen in occupied eastern Ukraine.

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Nastya went missing in Mariupol
along with her parents.

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Nastya's disappearance has also
been in the news in Russia.

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The government says it's looking
for her and blames Ukraine

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for what happened.

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Deputy head of the Russian
parliament, Anna Kuznetsova,

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is in the same news report.

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She also makes outlandish claims
about why Ukraine

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is demanding its children back.

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Three months after Bohdan's
first attempt to escape Russia,

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he made another.

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It also failed.

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Bohdan now fears he'll be
conscripted into the Russian army

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when he turns 18 and sent
to fight his fellow Ukrainians.

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It's now just two weeks
before Bohdan's 18th birthday.

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He's received another
set of call-up papers.

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Victoria and Diana have made
a breakthrough

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in their investigation
into the disappearance of Margarita.

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They have uncovered
a Russian document authorising

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Margarita's transfer
from the Kherson children's home

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to a Moscow hospital.
It names the woman who took her,

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Inna Varlamova.

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An online search confirms she is
the mysterious woman in lilac.

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But with no more information,
the search for Margarita goes cold.

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Olha and her sister Liudmyla
are leaving for Russia,

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hoping to get Viktor back.

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Panorama has teamed up with Russian
investigators to help Victoria

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and Diana find out
what happened to Margarita.

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Using a thriving online market
for documents from inside Russia,

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it's possible to find out
more about the woman in lilac,

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Inna Varlamova.

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Train records show she travelled
to Crimea on the same day

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Margarita was taken from the Kherson
children's home by armed men.

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That night, Inna Varlamova
took the train to Moscow.

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The search for documents
also reveals

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she got married soon after
she returned to Moscow.

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Her husband? A high-profile Russian
politician called Sergey Mironov.

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He's the leader of a major
political party, Just Russia.

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Mironov is a key ally
of President Putin.

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He has been sanctioned by the UK
and the EU since 2014,

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when Russia annexed Crimea.

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CROWD CHEERS

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Further digging reveals
an adoption record.

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For Victoria and Diana,
it's a crucial breakthrough.

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Margarita's date of birth
is on the adoption record.

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It shows her name has been
changed to Marina,

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her place of birth to Russia,

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and her new parents as
Inna Varlamova and Sergey Mironov.

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The documents show a key ally
of Vladimir Putin adopted

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a child after his wife
had taken her from Ukraine.

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Under international law, removing
a child from their home country

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with no intention of giving them
back is a war crime.

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This year, a documentary
about Sergey Mironov's life

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was broadcast on Russian television.

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There is a recent addition
to Mironov's gallery.

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A painting of him holding a girl
around Margarita's age.

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Almost two weeks
after leaving Ukraine for Russia,

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Olha and her sister are due
to return with Viktor.

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PHONE RINGS

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Bohdan's left another secretly
recorded message for his lawyer.

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He's been told by a Russian official
he might be allowed

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to return to Ukraine,
but he doesn't believe them.

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00:53:02,480 --> 00:53:04,880
Time's running out.

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As soon as Bohdan turns 18, he can
be called up to the Russian army.

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Bohdan and his lawyer decide
they can't stay silent any longer.

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They release a video on social media
pleading for action,

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and asking the Ukrainian President
for help.

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VIKTOR LAUGHS