DISINFO: Wounded Ukrainian warriors' blood is pumped out and internal organs sold
DISINFORMATION CASE DETAILS
  • Outlet: novoross.info (archived)*
  • Date of publication: July 03, 2020
  • Outlet language(s): Russian
  • Reported in: Issue 205
  • Countries / regions discussed: Ukraine
Tags:
Ukraine Eastern Ukraine Donbas War in Ukraine

DISINFO: Wounded Ukrainian warriors' blood is pumped out and internal organs sold

SUMMARY

Some of the wounded Ukrainian warriors in the Donbas are not saved. Instead their blood is pumped out and their internal organs are sold.

RESPONSE

Conspiracy theory based on recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives about organ trafficking.

There is no evidence for these allegations.

Similar claims have sporadically been made by Russian media and TV channels for many years. For example, back in 2014 Ukrainian fact-checking website StopFake.org debunked the wild claims about the trade of organs, taken from heavily wounded soldiers. Even more bizarrely, they alleged this process was conducted in Ukraine by such high profile people as the former lawyer of Yulia Tymoshenko, Serhiy Vlasenko, the commander of the Donbass battalion Semen Semenchenko, and a German resident Olha Viber - presented in the news item as a doctor. Earlier in 2017, Russian media reported a fake story alleging French customs had confiscated a shipment of organs from Ukraine. In 2019, an NTV Russian channel report claimed that the organs of dead Ukrainian soldiers were harvested and sent off to Europe. Polygraph.info explained why this claims is false. Also, experts believe that the reality of using organs from deceased persons [illicitly] is small. See similar cases: "French customs officers at Paris Orly airport confiscated a shipment of human organs from Ukraine," "According to a deserted fighter, Ukrainian soldiers are dismembered and their organs are removed even when they are just slightly injured."

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Disclaimer

Cases in the EUvsDisinfo database focus on messages in the international information space that are identified as providing a partial, distorted, or false depiction of reality and spread key pro-Kremlin messages. This does not necessarily imply, however, that a given outlet is linked to the Kremlin or editorially pro-Kremlin, or that it has intentionally sought to disinform. EUvsDisinfo publications do not represent an official EU position, as the information and opinions expressed are based on media reporting and analysis of the East Stratcom Task Force.

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