DISINFO: The West turned Ukraine into global black market organ trade hub

DISINFORMATION CASE DETAILS

DISINFO: The West turned Ukraine into global black market organ trade hub

SUMMARY

Ukrainian soldiers are being turned into unwitting organ donors. 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.

RESPONSE

The claim that Ukraine is a black market hub for organ trade is false, rendering the rest of the allegations necessarily fictitious.

Not a single credible evidence has ever been provided to back recurring pro-Kremlin allegations about organ harvesting in Ukraine. The claims of this disinformation story have been debunked by Ukrainian and international fact-checkers, including an explanation of why extracting organs in the field is impossible from a technical point of view. Despite these allegations being discredited, pro-Kremlin disinformation has continued pushing them in order to portray Ukrainians and its allies as atrocious, and as an attempt to justify its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

Talking about unsubstantiated allegations as if they were established facts while introducing minor variations, as in this case, is a frequent pro-Kremlin disinformation technique.

See other examples of similar disinformation narratives, such as claims that Ukraine cremates soldiers to conceal organ harvesting and trafficking, that the Kyiv regime sells children for their organs, that Ukraine's armed forces kill the wounded and sell their organs, that wounded Ukrainian warriors' blood is pumped out and internal organs sold or that the West uses losses in Ukraine to channel human organ exports.

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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