Ghoulish Russian soldiers stealing and selling organs of dead Ukrainian prisoners of war, wife of captured soldier claims
Russian soldiers stealing and selling organs of dead Ukrainian prisoners of war - claim
Getty
Russia is stealing and selling the organs of dead Ukrainian prisoners of war, a wife of a captured soldier has claimed.
Larysa Salaeva said that when Ukraine receives the corpses of their fallen soldiers, some of them have vital organs missing.
Salaeva, the head of the Freedom to Defenders of Mariupol campaigning group, believes that there is an active black market for organ transplantation in Russia.
She said: “It is already well-known that we receive the bodies of tortured prisoners during body exchanges.
Russian soldiers stealing and selling organs of dead Ukrainian prisoners of war - claimGetty“We receive not only tortured bodies but also bodies, unfortunately, without organs.
Speaking at a meeting in Ankara between representatives of the families of prisoners of war and the Ambassador of Ukraine to Turkey, Vasyl Bodnar, she added: “This confirms the fact that the black market for organ transplantation in the Russian Federation is active.
“And, unfortunately, it operates with our prisoners of war.
“Therefore, I believe that this must be made known to the whole world to stop this crime.”
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Salaeva urged Turkey to act as a mediator between the two nations to help repatriate the PoWs.
She also described the condition of the Ukrainian soldiers, of which over 10,000 are currently held in Russia, upon their return home.
“We see the state of health in which our boys return,” she said.
“It's indescribable: they are thin, they need medical help.
Roman Vasiliovich Gorilyk was released in a prisoner swap in May after living in dire conditions
I Want to Live“Every time, their health deteriorates in captivity. It's the third year now.”
Last month, photos were released of a Ukrainian Chernobyl guard who had been detained in Russia for more than two years.
Roman Vasiliovich Gorilyk was released in a prisoner swap In May after living in dire conditions, and pictures show the 31-year-old looking extremely frail and with protruding bones.
Gorilyk was a senior controller at the Chernobyl power plant and had no involvement in any fighting but was "taken hostage" by the Russians in March 2022, according to army hotline "I Want to Live".
Many claim the prison conditions are in breach of the Geneva Conventions.