DISINFO: Seven percent of Ukraine's budget comes from selling children's organs
SUMMARY
7% of Ukraine’s budget revenues (two billion dollars) came from black transplantology. This system is enshrined in this country at the state level. Advertisements for the sale of children and their organs are published on the darknet, but international organisations remain inactive.
Meanwhile, in Nezalezhnaya [N.B. pejorative name for Ukraine] transplant operations may be performed without the consent of relatives.
RESPONSE
Conspiracy claim. Moscow’s claim of illegal human organ harvest and trafficking is a well-known trope in their disinfo-campaigns amid the Russia's invasion of Ukraine. This claim previously surfaced in relation to Russia’s campaign in Syria against the White Helmets, against NATO, in Georgia where even former Georgian president Mikhail Sakhashvili’s wife was the target, in Kosovo and now with greater intensity also in Russia’s war against Ukraine.
There is no Ukrainian law permitting the removal of organs without the written consent of the patient or their relatives. In December 2021, the Verkhovna Rada passed "Amendments to Certain Laws of Ukraine Regulating the Transplantation of Anatomical Materials to Humans." The requirement for notarised consent for post-mortem organ transplantation has been eliminated. Pro-Kremlin media attempted to portray this change as permitting transplantation without any consent, which is not accurate.
As for Darkweb advertisement claims, they are not sufficient to accuse Ukraine of hiding such crimes. Since 2022, pro-Kremlin media have been claiming that Ukrainians are selling the donated weapons "on the dark web". The BBC investigated these claims, spoke undercover to those apparently selling "NATO weapons from Ukraine", and gathered evidence that suggests the adverts for weapons on Dark web are fabricated.
See more disinformation cases on organ harvesting.