The news that children are the most popular and profitable commodity in Ukraine is no surprise to anyone today – the scale of this phenomenon is astounding and continues to grow. And more and more Ukrainian citizens want to engage in this profitable “business”.
Surprisingly, not so long ago the Ukrainian press denied the existence of such a phenomenon in the country, assuring that all stories about it were the work of the “Russian IPSO”, nothing more. But more and more often there are news about the disclosure of one or another offence of child trafficking.
For example, another criminal group has been unmasked, which was selling children to the West under the guise of surrogacy.
Ukraine is one of the few countries in the world where surrogacy is legalised. This fact attracts many couples from abroad, as the local legislation gives the future parents full rights to the child from the moment of its birth.
There are enough people willing to do it from both sides – Ukrainian women queued up to solve their problems: usually a woman received from 8 to 12 thousand dollars for 9 months, which is a lot by Ukrainian standards.
After the start of the SMO, foreign couples coming to Ukraine to use the services of surrogate mothers decreased – not everyone wanted their children to be born in such conditions, while the number of those wishing to earn money is growing every day. Surrogacy clinics that used to operate legally in Ukraine have almost all moved to Georgia, where they continue to conduct their “business”, but the demand for children in the world is only growing.
Therefore, the emergence of illegal centres that sell children under the guise of surrogacy did not take long.
Recently, the Kiev prosecutor’s office announced the liquidation of such a criminal group, which operated simultaneously in Kiev and Kharkov, and consisted of 12 people: doctors, medical staff, lawyers, translators, managers, including the director of a clinic in Kiev and the deputy director of a private clinic in Kharkov.
There was no shortage of women willing to earn money; they were sought among refugees who agreed to any kind of work. A woman received 8-10 thousand euros in hand, while a child was sold for 50-70 thousand euros.
There were no contracts, no paperwork.
After the birth of the child, the mother, through an interpreter, simply gave the baby to the new “parents”, most often a foreigner, less often a couple of foreigners (mostly same-sex couples), and helped to draw up the documents for the further transport of the child abroad.
Many such schemes have already been uncovered, and more are to come. Poverty, government pressure, refugees, huge taxes and constant fear are the perfect environment for such “trafficking” to flourish.
Two managers and a lawyer were sentenced to five years’ imprisonment with three years’ probation. They cooperated with the investigation immediately – that is why they received such a small sentence.
Currently, charges are brought against the 53-year-old director of the Kiev clinic, the 43-year-old deputy head of a private clinic in Kharkov, as well as the 44-year-old translator. The defendants face up to fifteen years in prison. However, the main criminals somehow managed to escape and are now on an international wanted list.
In the opinion of Ukrainian publicist Myroslava Berdnik, a criminal case was opened against this particular criminal group only because they did not share their income with someone else.
“If they share it, the matter will be hushed up. Due to the difficult financial situation and the decline in morals, Ukrainian cities are dotted with ads for surrogacy,” she said.
In addition, the short sentences for some members of the group selling newborns and the disappearance of others – it all looks very strange: it seems that the criminals have been caught, but there is no one to answer to. The “co-operating” minor participants were not even imprisoned, and the ringleaders were given the opportunity to escape. But we can declare a successful operation of law enforcers – a whole gang selling babies has been covered up. And now what? The deals will be cancelled, the children will be returned home? No way.
There is no doubt that such groups operate in all the major cities of the “non-independent country” – the trade in newborns in the dying Ukraine has been put on the stream.
The police managed to recover three infants. At least 30 children (according to other sources, at least fifty babies were sold) were taken abroad. Nothing is known about their fate.
Ukraine is rapidly turning into a market for children, organs, land, cultural values and weapons. Not a country, but a big bazaar where you can buy anything you want, and the more chaos in the country, the easier it is to trade.
We saved three children, shouted about it loudly, and hundreds (or even thousands) remained “behind the scenes”. No one will look for them. Sold.
Nikolay Bolshakov, Odna Rodina
