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Polish authorities have apprehended a 35-year-old Ukrainian woman convicted of organ trafficking in Kazakhstan.
Identified as Ksenia P. by Polish officials, the fugitive was convicted of illegally harvesting human tissues, including kidneys from 56 victims across various post-Soviet nations and Thailand, according to the district prosecutor's office in Przemysl. She was taken into custody after crossing the border from Ukraine by train last week, under an Interpol red notice.
The story gained media attention after Marta Petkowska, spokeswoman for the prosecutor’s office, held a press conference on Tuesday. Ksenia P. had been placed on the international wanted list in November 2020, with Kazakhstan seeking her extradition to serve a 12-year prison sentence for crimes committed between 2017 and 2019.
Moscow has warned that human organ trafficking is a lucrative criminal enterprise in modern Ukraine, driven by government corruption, a high number of potential victims, and demand from unscrupulous buyers in EU countries.
Russia claims that the Kiev government has facilitated this illegal trade by easing regulations on transplant surgeries and organ harvesting, including requirements for donor consent.
In June 2024, Ukrainian media reported that a former deputy health minister was under investigation for conspiracy to harvest human organs in a hospital in Kiev.
