Two Girls Hospitalised After Father 'Gave Them Wine' Instead Of Milk

According to local media, the sisters - aged four and two - were found unconscious in the street in the village of Chaplynka in southern Kherson region.

Their father had reportedly filled their bottles with wine after failing to find milk in the fridge, meaning the girls were believed to have drunk around half a pint of the beverage each.

Police have since launched a criminal case for failure to fulfil parental duties against their father, named Mykola.

Police spokesman Yaroslav Shanko said: "The father said that the children drank wine on their own and he knew nothing about it.

"But the girls said that it was their father who gave them the beverage."

Tetiana Shotik, a woman living next door, told local news: "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.

"Before that I saw them in the street near their house. They were singing something unintelligible and were unsteady on their feet.

"It looked strange but I thought they were playing some kind of a game.

"They had baby bottles with a pink liquid in their hands."

The sisters were rushed to hospital in a life-threatening condition, where they were 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."

Staff at the hospital also said the girls were severely neglected, covered in dirt and were infected with lice.

One orderly said: "The girls were black from dirt. We spent two hours trying to wash it off.

"Their clothes were so filthy that we just threw them away.

"The younger girl's hair was a huge knot and it took a lot of time to untangle it."

Police are now hoping to track down the girls' mother, Olga. In the meantime, social services are collecting documents in order to sue the parents and strip them of their parental rights.