Waiting for my Dad: Ukraine's children of the missing

A pioneering summer camp for Ukrainian children with missing parents.

According to the Ukrainian government more than 70 thousand people are missing in the war, leaving families, including thousands of children, anxious for news of their loved ones and unable to move on.

Psychologists say these children are some of the most traumatised they have worked with.

Now for the first time a leading Ukrainian children’s charity is putting on a special summer camp for some of these children, offering them therapy, fun activities and a safe place.

For Assignment, Will Vernon is given exclusive access to this project, where psychologists are developing a new framework to treat these deeply traumatised children.

Producer: John Murphy
Sound mixer: Neil Churchill
Production Coordinator: Gemma Ashman
Series editor: Penny Murphy

(Photo: Children hug each other after a tearful group therapy session in Ukraine’s Carpathian Mountains. Credit: John Murphy)