Criminal group in Odesa to stand trial for attempting to traffic at least 25 children abroad. VIDEO
The Odesa Regional Prosecutor's Office has referred to court a case involving a criminal group that illegally transported Ukrainian orphans and children deprived of parental care to another country for future adoption.
This was reported by the Office of the Prosecutor General, according to Censor.NET.
Organisers and participants in the scheme
As noted, among the organisers of the scheme are two Ukrainian citizens – 39-year-old and 47-year-old translators, as well as a 49-year-old founder of a charitable organisation.
The group also recruited 13 other men and women to transport children outside Ukraine.
How did the scheme work?
The "traffickers" produced forged documents, facilitated the adoption of illegal decisions by child welfare authorities, and organised the departure of children abroad, receiving monetary rewards from foreign citizens through international payment systems.
The scheme was implemented through so-called "hosting" – short-term trips for children to foreign families during summer or winter holidays under the guise of recreation and health improvement. This time was actually used to introduce foreign families to Ukrainian children and select potential adopters.
Despite the ban on international adoption during martial law, the participants continued to move children after 2022. According to the investigation, the scheme operated until early 2025. In April 2025, the "traffickers" were exposed and detained.
How many children did they try to take out of the country?
It is reported that in total, the perpetrators attempted to illegally transport at least 25 children from the Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Lviv, Mykolaiv, Odesa and Cherkasy regions out of Ukraine, 13 of whom were taken to a foreign country.
Exposure and suspicions
It is noted that the criminal activities were stopped thanks to joint efforts by Ukrainian and foreign law enforcement agencies, in particular through the cancellation of entry permits by the foreign party.
Earlier it was reported that the members of the criminal group were notified of their suspicion of human trafficking, illegal transportation across the state border and forgery of documents (Parts 2 and 3 of Article 149; Parts 2 and 3 of Article 332; Part 3 of Article 358 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
The trial of the two organisers will begin shortly. The third organiser, the head of a charitable foundation, has been declared wanted.
