Accents of Europe

Ukrainian orphans and civilians, Russian conscripts: the shadow victims of the war in Ukraine

Audio 7:30 p.m.

Russian soldiers in the port of Mariupol, April 11, 2022. REUTERS - STRINGER

By: Léa-Lisa Westerhoff Follow

2 mins

After the failure of the capture of kyiv, the Russian army wants to take control of the whole of Donbass and the south of the country.

But two months after the start of this war, what is the state of the Russian troops?

Images showing Russian tanks turning around, but also testimonies collected by our colleague Virginie Pironon, via social networks, suggest that the morale of the Russian military is at its lowest.

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The images of civilians killed in the middle of the street in the small town of Bucha, near kyiv, shocked the whole world and prompted the international community to mobilize to open several investigations.

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights of the United Nations has documented the "murder" of fifty civilians, some of whom were subjected to "summary execution".

For her part, the Prosecutor General of Ukraine also went there to try to establish that the Russian army potentially perpetrated war crimes in Ukraine.

The report of our special

and

.

There are victims of this war that we hear less about: orphans.

While Ukraine has the largest number of children placed in institutions or foster families in Europe, a large number of these centers are located precisely in the industrially populated regions of the east of the country, under bombardment.

The story of our correspondent in Kiev,

School is one of the major issues in the presidential election which is being held on Sunday April 24 in France.

National Education teachers who say they are exhausted and undervalued after two years of health crisis are coveted by the various presidential candidates.

And some are looking towards Finland.

For 20 years and the start of the PISA surveys, which test the knowledge of 15-year-old pupils, Finland has always occupied first place in Europe with particularly happy pupils and teachers.

Much more than in France, where France ranks 25th.

But, could the French be inspired by this model?

Elements of answers with our correspondent

in Helsinki, the Finnish capital.

In the United Kingdom, it is nurseries and kindergartens that are sounding the alarm.

Side effects of Covid-19, a report by the Inspector of English schools reveals serious shortcomings in very young English children, confined for too long or surrounded by masked adults.

The explanations of

in London.

's music column on

's latest album .

(Rebroadcast April 22, 2022)

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