Former Deputy Minister of Health Zahriychuk was detained in a case of illegal organ harvesting

Former Deputy Minister of Health of Ukraine Mykhailo Zahoriychuk and 10 other doctors have been detained in connection with a case involving the illegal export of human anatomical materials.

This information comes from LB.ua, citing their own sources.

Zahoriychuk served as Deputy Minister under Zoryana Skaletska from August 2019 to March 2020. He currently heads the transplantation and abdominal organ surgery department at the Heart Institute.

In addition to Zahoriychuk, 10 doctors from the Heart Institute, Volyn Regional Clinical Hospital and Kyiv Central City Clinical Hospital have also been detained. All the medical professionals have been officially charged.

Earlier, Ukrainian MP Oksana Dmytriyeva stated that this case has caused organ transplantation in Ukraine to come to a halt. She explained that doctors are now afraid to engage in transplantation work for fear of being charged like their colleagues, leading them to suspend such activities.

It was previously reported that law enforcement uncovered a large-scale scheme involving the export of human anatomical materials, in which the former Deputy Minister of Health was implicated. The organizers of the scheme are suspected of illegally extracting anatomical materials, including organs, their parts and human cells.

It was previously reported that former Deputy Minister of Health Mykhailo Zahoriychuk, along with his ex-wife Svitlana Rekrut, fled abroad. They are now residing in London. Svitlana Rekrut, the Managing Director of the Deposit Guarantee Fund, is accused of multiple charges related to illegal enrichment.