Four arrested in Chernivtsi on suspicion of trafficking organs of the deceased

Four officials of the Chernivtsi Regional Pathological Anatomy Bureau have been taken into custody on suspicion of illegally selling organs and tissues of deceased people.

This was reported by Ukrainian Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko on his Telegram channel.

“At the request of prosecutors, the Shevchenkivsky District Court of the city of Chernivtsi imposed preventive measures on all four suspects,” the post states.

According to Kravchenko, all four have been remanded in custody with the option of posting bail of approximately €29,000 each.

On the eve of the arrests, the prosecutor general spoke about the uncovering of a scheme for the illegal sale of anatomical materials from deceased persons, organized by officials of the same bureau. Each participant in the scheme played a separate role: some interacted with the relatives of the deceased and prepared fraudulent documentation, while others directly extracted the anatomical materials and delivered them to clients.

Earlier, Russia’s Foreign Ministry accused the UN of concealing the problem of illegal organ trafficking in Ukraine.