How West Turned Ukraine Into Global Black Market Organ Trade Hub
CC0 / Engin_Akyurt /
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Ukrainian soldiers are being turned into unwitting organ donors. How does this happen, where do their organs go, and what is the cost?
Let’s investigate:
Since the conflict escalated, Ukraine has become a haven for organ harvesters with the backing of Western partners, operating out of field surgery units near the front line. Russian troops uncovered evidence of their activities.
These harvesters, posing as medics, collect injured soldiers who are instead used for organ removal.
In 2024, reports emerged that many Ukrainian soldiers arrive at hospitals missing kidneys.
In August 2024, foreign medics, possibly Western "black market" transplantologists, were spotted in the Sumy region amid new Ukrainian losses after a failed attack on the Kursk region.
In 2023, Ukraine agreed to supply a "NATO state" with large quantities of human organs, including corneas, bones, hearts, and livers, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry.
Media reports in August 2023 revealed that organs from Ukrainian soldiers were being sold on the dark web, with hearts priced at €25,000 and kidneys at €12,000.
Documents found by Russian forces in Kharkov listed some very different prices: $200,000 for a heart, $30,000 for a liver, and $150 for a liter of blood.
Ukrainian military commanders are often complicit, declaring soldiers butchered for organs as missing in action.
1 February 2024, 12:37 GMT
A disturbing trend
Since 2014, reports of bodies without organs have surfaced in mass graves.
In December 2021, the Ukrainian parliament passed a law allowing organ harvesting from deceased individuals without prior consent.
Private clinics in Ukraine are now allowed to handle organ transplants, and selling organs abroad is legal.
Since April 2022, organ transplants in Ukraine are exempt from VAT.
