"Organ trade": How and why Russia uses the topic of "black transplantology" in Ukraine

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Detector Media (DM) aims to analyze how Russian fakes about "black transplantology" turned into a whole story to discredit Ukraine.

Russian propagandists regularly use the topic of health care in Ukraine to build disinformation campaigns. For the most and more often used part, Russians discuss the topics of "black transplantology", "military biological laboratories and medical experiments on citizens of Ukraine"; "the Ukrainian authorities and the West, who are planning a famine in Ukraine and the world"; "drug laboratories and combat drugs for the Armed Forces of Ukraine"; "spread of infectious diseases in Ukraine", etc. (the list can be continued). The propagandists insist that the public reform of the medical system of Ukraine is not working, thereby leveling its achievements and accusing the Ukrainian authorities of supposedly poor regulation of health care issues. In this analysis, DM discusses how the Russians speculate on the topic of "black transplantology". After all, according to Russian propaganda, the entire healthcare reform is a cover-up for alleged "organ trafficking."

The narrative about the existence and prosperity of "black transplantology" in Ukraine was born back in 2014, right from the first days of the Revolution of Dignity. The appearance of fakes on this topic coincides with high-profile events that took place at the time. For example, the Russians wrote that "Maidan people" kill people and remove their organs. The relevant article was published during the unfolding protests led by the Kremlin in the East of Ukraine. Then Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula and invaded the Donbas, which became the basis for new, already modified statements on the topic of "black transplantology". When Russian troops and heavy weapons entered Ukraine, Spanish and Italian language articles about "black transplant centers " that supposedly existed on Ukrainian lands appeared online. This narrative's direction and usage were internal, aimed at ordinary Russians, and external ― aimed at Ukrainians and an international audience.

Russia has repeatedly stated that it is allegedly very easy to get any organs both online and offline in Ukraine. In an article about "black transplantology" in 2023, Russian propagandist Maria Zakharova wrote: "According to the seller, you can quickly deliver a heart for 25 thousand euros and kidneys for 12 thousand euros. It is noted that the delivery is available "only to the EU countries" in a medical box in 48-60 hours or can be left in a pre-arranged place subject to full prepayment... There are data that in June 2023, representatives of the Ministry of Health of one of the NATO countries agreed with the Ukrainian side on the supply of a refrigerator car with human organs and body parts, which are most often used in [organ] transplantation."

However, transplantation is a complex process that requires preliminary preparation and special conditions. First of all, for a successful transplantation, it is necessary to match the anthropometric data of the donor and the recipient, as well as their immunological compatibility, which is determined by conducting a number of laboratory tests.

Therefore, such operations require a certain amount of time and a prepared system for finding compatible health indicators between both participants in the process. Otherwise, the donor's organ simply will not take root in the recipient's body or may even cause an inflammatory reaction.

It is also worth remembering the existence of absolute contraindications for donating anatomical materials, such as HIV infection, AIDS, congenital or acquired syphilis, viral hepatitis, all forms of tuberculosis, typhus, etc. Separately for each organ, there are a number of contraindications that directly indicate that the organ cannot be transplanted to another person.

Thirdly, this procedure requires sterile conditions and a sufficient number of transplant specialists, surgeons, and other medical personnel. In practice, 12-14 doctors are needed to extract organs from a donor. In addition, if the organ collection takes place in one hospital and the transplant operation in another, then the selected material must be promptly delivered to the destination.

According to DonorUa, organs remain suitable for transplantation for only a short time. For example, the maximum permissible time of transportation of the extracted heart is 2 hours, while in the case of using an auxiliary device for reperfusion, it is 5 hours. For the removed lung, as well as for the liver, these indicators are 5 and 8 hours, respectively. The maximum permissible period of transportation of a removed kidney is 12 hours. Therefore, they are transported in special refrigerators that continue to support the vital activity of anatomical materials. That is why stories about "delivery of organs to EU countries in a medical box in 48-60 hours" and "delivery of a refrigerator car with organs and body parts of soldiers directly from the front" are just simple fiction created by Russian propaganda, having in fact nothing to do with reality.

Russian propagandists, such as the official representative of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova, have a series of theses that they express when they talk about the "organ trade" in Ukraine. Since 2014, and especially since 2022, these pseudo-facts have sounded so often in the Russian information space that they have already taken root in the minds of ordinary Russians as an undeniable truth. That is, we are talking about "multiple repetitions" as one of the key tactics of Russian propaganda. A manipulative or false thesis is repeated many times from different sources until it is accepted as truth.

A well-known manipulation was a 2014 story when the OSCE allegedly stated that bodies of people without internal organs were found in mass graves in the war zone. It supposedly meant that illegal transplant specialists removed them. Then the OSCE Special Representative and Coordinator for Combating Human Trafficking, Madina Dzharbusynova, explained that the Russian media took her words out of context. This referred to her statements in response to the statements of several Russian NGOs during the OSCE Human Dimension Meeting regarding possible organ extraction in eastern Ukraine. Dzharbusynova also quoted a response from a Ukrainian representative who said these allegations would be investigated as soon as Ukraine gained greater access to the region. At the same time, the OSCE has no evidence of organ extraction in Donbas. On October 30, 2014, the organization even published a rebuttal of the statement.

Moreover, in 2015, the website of the TV channel "Channel 17", which promoted pro-Russian propaganda and staged provocations, released an "investigative" film about the work of recruiters who allegedly sent Ukrainians "under the knife" of "black transplant specialists". At that time, the creative director of "Channel 17" was the propagandist Zhan Novoseltsev, who the SBU detained in July 2024 for an article about obstructing the legitimate activities of the Armed Forces. He and his accomplices called for armed resistance mobilization. According to the description of the film, "the corridor for the sale of Ukrainians is the largest in the post-Soviet space and is built entirely on corruption and encrypted passwords."

In the film, it is said that the future recipient usually pays from 120 to 150 thousand dollars for a kidney. From this money, the Ukrainian donor receives no more than 10%, meaning that at least 100,000 dollars remain "in the pockets of "black transplant specialists." The "investigation" sought to reveal alleged connections between Ukrainian criminals and foreign clinics, emphasizing the scale and brutality of this black market. However, the film itself is manipulative. It does not cite sufficient evidence to support the existence of organ trafficking in the region, and the stories of the characters appearing in the story cannot be verified because their names are not provided.

Another thesis that is used by propagandists from time to time to give basis and credibility to the next fakes is the accusation of the ex-president of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili, in particular his ex-wife Sandra Roelofs. For example, the "emergency aid and resuscitation group", which was involved in the organ trade under the leadership of Roelofs, created special centers in Kramatorsk and Severodonetsk, where wounded Ukrainian soldiers were sent. Oleksandr Kvitashvili, the former Minister of Health of Georgia and later of Ukraine, was also called a co-participant in the scheme. However, this information was once refuted by Georgian fact-checkers from the Myth Detector project. At the same time, the propagandists kept this false story in their arsenal and used it when it was needed. In particular, it was rebroadcast by Nikoloz Mzhavanadze, the host of the Georgian pro-Kremlin "Sezoni TV" program; the Russian propaganda channel "NTV" even created an additional story with accusations against the Saakashvili family; Russian propaganda circulated the corresponding video in TikTok in 2022.

On May 24, 2023, Russian propaganda again speculated on the topic of "black transplantology" in Ukraine in the new film "Tanks for Kidneys" by RT. As the Center for Combating Disinformation noted, this film was a compilation of all disinformation messages and campaigns actively produced by Russian propaganda during 2014-2022. The film gradually reveals the topic of "black transplantology" in Ukraine, starting with the Revolution of Dignity, the Russian-Ukrainian war in Donbas, and ending with the present day. In addition, the very plot of the story is full of accusations that the Ukrainian authorities are doing everything possible to promote the development of "shadow transplantology", which allegedly only simplifies the process of transferring anatomical materials of Ukrainians to Western countries. The people who spread these messages in the film are representatives of Russia and/or the so-called "LPR" and "DPR" puppet governments.

The Russians regularly supplement their "evidence base" with false testimonies of "eyewitnesses" of organ trafficking, fabricated articles, and photo and video fakes. False witnesses posing as residents of frontline or occupied territories rebroadcast Kremlin propaganda, claiming that they "know" how soldiers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and local children are allegedly sold for organs. They provide fake testimonies, and the propagandists wrap them up in a presentable form: publish relevant video interviews, stories, or articles. Despite the lack of real evidence, the average Russian viewer absorbs this information and reinforces their own negative attitude towards "terrible Ukrainians".

After the adoption of the medical reform in 2017, propagandists began to use transplantology as a tool to discredit changes in Ukraine. "Every day, we monitored the media, and I was always surprised; how come so many Russian media write about our reform? Even some newspapers such as "Korasnoyarskie Izvestia" wrote about the medical reform in Ukraine," recalled Pavlo Kovtonyuk, ex-deputy head of the Ministry of Health, in a comment for "Ukrainian Pravda. Life". The then Minister of Health, Ulyana Suprun, also came under the crosshairs of the anti-Ukrainian information campaign. Russian media and bloggers wrote that "the American woman Suprun is destroying Ukrainian medicine", "killing the nation," and "facilitating the mass sale of Ukrainian organs to Western countries".

First of all, it should be noted that organ transplantation during life or after the death of a person without voluntary and informed consent is prohibited by Ukrainian law. Therefore, everyone who wants to become an organ donor during their lifetime must submit their application to any transplant center and undergo a full medical examination, after which doctors will determine whether this person can receive the status of a donor.

In the case of posthumous donation, transplantation is carried out only in the presence of the written consent of the recipient, which he filled out during their lifetime or with the written permission of their relatives. But posthumous donation also contains certain restrictions, in particular, the prohibition to remove organs from the deceased who belong to the category of orphans and children deprived of parental care, disabled persons, unidentified people, or from military or civilian casualties caused by war. By law, a person also has the right to withdraw their decision about posthumous organ donation.

Also, Law No. 2457, "On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine Regulating the Transplantation of Anatomical Materials to Humans," was passed not to "legalize the sale of Ukrainians for organs," as Russian propagandists said at the time, but to build a comprehensive system of transplantation that would simplify the process of the search for donors. Due to this law, from January 1, 2021, information about people who want their organs to be used for donation after death and about living donors and recipients can be found in the Unified State Transplantation Information System (EDIST).

Russian propagandist Maria Zakharova also wrote about Law No. 5831, "On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine Regulating the Transplantation of Anatomical Materials to Humans," in the already mentioned article. The law canceled the need for a notarized certificate of a person's written consent to donation. In her opinion, these amendments were allegedly made to simplify the removal of organs from the dead who did not give their consent during their lifetime. But in reality, the donor's consent is still necessary. These changes were intended to reduce bureaucracy and possible corruption schemes in the field of transplantation.

As per Zakharova, according to this law, Ukraine allegedly "allowed the removal of organs from children." However, this is nothing more than simple manipulation because, according to Ukrainian legislation, organ transplantation of minors after death is possible only with the permission of parents or legal representatives. During life, a minor can be a donor of hematopoietic stem cells, but only in special cases and with the consent of both the donor and their parents/guardians/legal representative. Therefore, as we can see, accusing Ukraine of legalizing "black transplantology" at the legislative level is unsubstantiated.

The statements of the vice-speaker of the State Duma of Russia, Anna Kuznetsova, that the income from "black transplantology" allegedly makes up 7% of the entire state budget of Ukraine are also baseless. The VoxCheck team explained that transplantology is not a profitable activity for Ukraine, because all organ transplant operations are completely free for the donor and recipient. In 2018, Ukraine launched a pilot program for state financing of transplants, where each organ transplant operation is 100% paid for by the state. "Moreover, Kuznetsova makes illogical statements about income from "shadow transplantology". In fact, the shadow activity would not affect the state budget because taxes will obviously not be paid for illegal actions," the investigation noted.

As for the issue of selling organs from Ukraine to abroad, these cases have also never been confirmed. In April 2022, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted amendments to the legislation, exempting medical procedures and services related to transplantation from VAT. The purpose of this change is to increase the accessibility of the transplantation procedure for citizens of Ukraine and in no way promote the export of organs abroad. In addition, in wartime conditions, the use of aviation for the transportation of organs for transplantation is not allowed, which would undoubtedly complicate the process of transporting organs to other countries.

Russian propaganda names the representatives of the Ukrainian authorities as the main culprits in the trade in the organs of Ukrainian citizens. In some cases, propagandists call law enforcement agencies, in particular, the Security Service of Ukraine, local authorities of frontline cities, and the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, the ones responsible for "black transplantology".

Russia also discredits a number of non-governmental organizations, in particular international ones, which are allegedly engaged in "black transplantology" in Ukraine. For example, at the end of May 2022, pro-Kremlin media spread disinformation about the activities of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Mariupol. The Russians wrote that medical records of hundreds of children were found on the ICRC basis, in which they were supposedly looking for "healthy internal organs" for "black transplants." At the time, the ICRC responded to this accusation by saying such claims were baseless. The Center for Countering Disinformation of the National Security Council of Ukraine concluded that this fake was explicitly planned for International Children's Day, celebrated annually on June 1. In this way, the Russians tried to justify the atrocities they committed in Mariupol and wanted to present themselves as "peacemakers".

According to the version of Russian propaganda, an organization called FRIDA Ukraine, which receives support from the UN Development Program and the Japanese government, is also engaged in "organ transplantation" instead of providing medical assistance to people in the frontline territories. The Ukrainian-Israeli medical mission, FRIDA Ukraine, was founded by Israelis Roman Goldman and Mark Nevyazky. It unites 980 doctors from Ukraine and Israel. The Russian accusations are based on the assumption that Japan needs donors and that Israeli doctors are recognized as the best transplant specialists in the world. However, doctors do not perform transplants within the scope of this mission. Since the beginning of the full-scale war, they have provided medical assistance to children, people with disabilities, and the elderly in the frontline areas. Therefore, the accusations against them are groundless.

A similar Russian story was about the American Global Surgical and Medical Support Group (GSMSG), which allegedly illegally removed organs from wounded soldiers under the pretext of "treatment". It supposedly happened in the German city of Landstuhl. The bodies of Ukrainian fighters were apparently intended for NATO officers. However, in fact the Group provides medical assistance to civilians in conflict zones or natural disaster areas. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, GSMSG employees have been training Ukrainian medics in tactical medicine and surgical care of the wounded. However, of course, there are no official confirmations of "black transplant specialists" activities that could be related to the Group.

In April 2022, the Canadian Communications Security Center, which is responsible for the country's external electronic intelligence, warned that a Russian campaign is underway to promote the disinformation thesis that Ukraine allegedly harvests the organs of dead soldiers, women, and children for further transplants, and uses mobile crematoria to get rid of the evidence. With this campaign, Russia sought to justify the invasion, saying, "Ukrainians must be saved."

Pro-Russian sources spread misinformation that Ukrainian children from orphanages are sold for organs to foreigners. For example, until 2022, it was mostly about wounded servicemembers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine; now, according to Russian propaganda, the Ukrainian authorities have also involved "innocent children" in this process. That is why, as the propagandists claimed, Ukrainians should defend themselves not from the Russian troops, who apparently came with good intentions, but from the "criminal "Kyiv regime".

As for the Ukrainian military, the central message of Russian propaganda was that soldiers wounded on the battlefield are evacuated to other countries for alleged treatment, where, in fact, their organs are removed. Then they are returned to Ukraine dead for burial. In this way, Russia sought to assert that Ukraine was exchanging the organs of its people as a form of "payment" for military aid to the West. In addition, the pro-Kremlin media circulated materials that stated that several hundred dollars could be paid for a seriously or mortally wounded soldier on the front lines who would accept organ extraction at a field hospital. However, these stories turned out to be false. Russia resorts to propaganda tactics called "dehumanization of the enemy" when it talks about the "cruelty of Ukrainians" who are allegedly ready to sell the organs of their people. The goal of the propagandists is to prevent sympathy for the Ukrainians and, even more so, to encourage the Russians to go to war as a "sacred mission."

"Black transplantology" in Ukraine is a conspiracy theory that Russians have been developing for decades. The constant return to the topic testifies to its importance for Russia. These messages are pushed to both domestic and international audiences. However, their refutation in foreign and Ukrainian media prevents the campaign from having the desired effect that the propagandists seek. Among the goals pursued by Russian propaganda within the framework of this topic are discrediting the military-political leadership of Ukraine and reducing trust in it, creating a negative image of the state in the eyes of the international community, and justifying Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

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Main page illustration credits: Natalia Lobach