Recently, a Lithuanian Facebook user spoke out about child trafficking schemes. She also shared a link to a conversation published at the end of July on the website auf1.tv.
“A former police chief reveals: human trafficking in Ukraine! Babies in Kyiv are waiting to be sold to the West. Clients choose babies’ hair and eye color…
Those who protect pedophile criminal networks are part of the dark ‘Deep State’,” – quoted the internet user.
Armed conflicts have shown that criminals profit from the chaos of large-scale population movements and the despair of war, increasing vulnerability and providing opportunities to exploit refugees.
The so-called “deep state” is a conspiracy theory based on the idea that some government officials, military, or intelligence representatives work together to secretly manipulate politics and harm elected or appointed leaders.
Clicking the provided link opens a one-hour recording published on the AUF1 channel (which stands for Alternatives Unabhängiges Fernsehen – Alternative Independent Television). This Austrian far-right internet TV, launched in 2001, is known as a disinformation spreader.
The video shows a conversation between its founder Stefan Magnet and former head of the German Thuringia State Criminal Police (LKA) Uwe Kranz. The latter is particularly strict about sexual crimes and calls for their publicization, but also became known for other statements, for example, spreading lies about vaccines during the pandemic.
“Politics and the judicial system are also entangled in this problem – that’s why we hear nothing about mass arrests and dismantling of pedophile networks,” – the former official is quoted in the conversation description.
After discussing the US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the interlocutors moved on (around the 18:36 timestamp) to Ukraine, which S. Magnet called “an international child trafficking hub,” and U. Kranz – “a raw materials warehouse.”
The latter noted that “since the start of the conflict, we have observed a massive increase in reports of missing children,” and reminded that Ukraine was already a center of surrogate motherhood and “suspicious adoption agencies” before the war.
“Does this mean that children simply disappear in the system while the West sends billions in military aid?” – the host asked. The guest admitted that this is indeed the problem.
Despite challenges due to the ongoing war, the government has made great efforts to reduce the risk of human trafficking.
“There are NGOs, as well as informants from security structures reporting that criminal networks exploit refugee flows. Children are taken at borders. Often they are orphans or children from broken families who are not missed by anyone. They are transported to the West, often under the guise of evacuation,” – the former official said. According to him, these children end up in private elite networks.
The US had complaints
The conversation touched on a very pressing issue accompanying the five-year war in Ukraine – human trafficking. Children also become victims.
According to the International Organization for Migration data, more than 7 million people became refugees in just the first month since the end of February 2022, mostly women and children.
“Armed conflicts have shown that criminals profit from the chaos of large-scale population movements and the despair of war, increasing vulnerability and providing opportunities to exploit displaced persons and refugees,” – noted human trafficking and crimes against children expert Jonathan Dupont. – “Because of this, children are especially vulnerable to human trafficking, and criminal networks operate between Ukraine and European and Central Asian countries.”
In the US State Department’s 2014 Trafficking in Persons Report, Ukraine was recognized as a source, transit, and destination country for human trafficking victims. The 2025 report stated that “the Ukrainian government does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking but is making significant efforts to do so.”
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The document states that the government demonstrated overall increased efforts compared to the previous reporting period, so Ukraine remained in the 2nd tier (Tier 2).
“These efforts included identifying more trafficking victims; increased funding for victim assistance; broad cooperation with foreign partners in conducting international trafficking investigations, despite reduced resources and capacities due to the Russia-Ukraine war,” the report says.
The government reportedly investigated and prosecuted officials who may have colluded in crimes related to human trafficking. New guidelines for prosecutors on handling child trafficking cases were prepared, active awareness campaigns are conducted, coordinating actions with international organizations.
“Despite significant capacity challenges due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, the government made great efforts to reduce the risk of human trafficking,” the report states.
Since the start of the large-scale invasion, Russia has abducted more than 20,000 children. Some NGOs estimate that the total number of abductions may reach hundreds of thousands.
At the same time, it was noted that authorities investigated fewer human trafficking crimes and prosecuted fewer accused persons, courts convicted fewer traffickers or imposed lenient sentences.
Blame lies with Russia
Analyses by some international organizations reveal a different picture – a large part of the blame for child trafficking lies with Russia, which attacked Ukraine.
The Council of Europe’s (CoE) group of experts on action against trafficking in human beings (GRETA) issued a statement in early July confirming that the illegal deportation and forced transfer of Ukrainian children in the context of Russia’s aggressive war poses a risk of human trafficking.
According to it, these actions may meet the definition of human trafficking under the CoE Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings.
Last year, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights, in the case Ukraine and the Netherlands v. Russia, found that Russia’s administrative practice of transferring Ukrainian children to Russia or Russian-controlled territories, facilitating their adoption, violates the fundamental rights of these minors.
A new analytical report commissioned by GRETA highlights several recurring patterns that make these children particularly vulnerable and significantly increase the risk of further exploitation.
This includes transferring children to closed camps and institutions under the guise of evacuation or recreational activities, involving them in forced labor and household chores, transferring medically or socially vulnerable children into conditions of total dependency, confiscation of identity documents, changes in children’s legal status, guardianship, and citizenship, and illegal adoption.
According to CoE experts, the illegal deportation and forced transfer of children is not limited to Russia and its occupied Ukrainian territories but also includes their transfer to Belarus.
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Parliamentary Assembly’s special envoy’s report this year presents similar findings regarding Russia’s abductions and deportations of Ukrainian children.
The document notes that thousands of children were deported to Russia or transferred to its occupied territories or Belarus. The Ukrainian government confirmed that since the start of the large-scale invasion in February 2022, Russia has abducted more than 20,000 children. Some NGOs and war crimes monitoring coalitions estimate that the total number of abductions may reach hundreds of thousands.
According to the special envoy, Russia did not cooperate or share information to help locate and identify these children, thus hindering family reunification efforts. Moreover, children living in occupied territories are victims of systematic Russification, propaganda, and indoctrination through the education system and other state-supported structures.
Russia’s practice of transferring Ukrainian children to Russia or its controlled territories, facilitating their adoption, violates their fundamental rights.
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in March 2023 for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russia’s children’s rights commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova, based on alleged war crimes related to the illegal transfer and deportation of Ukrainian children.
Most popular – lie about Zelenska’s foundation
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in turn found that cases of illegal migrant smuggling and human trafficking remain relatively low (referring to war refugees mostly fleeing to Western countries).
“The response to the refugee issue in Europe – maintaining visa-free entry for refugees from Ukraine and quick access to temporary protection or equivalent legal resident status – has essentially blocked migrant smuggling, as more than 6.7 million people from Ukraine sought asylum abroad,” the 2025 office report states.
Strengthening resilience was also helped by targeted awareness campaigns, increased efforts to identify trafficking victims, law enforcement cooperation, and other policies and actions by state and non-state organizations combating human trafficking in Ukraine, transit, and destination countries.
Claims about a child trafficking network operating in Ukraine, allegedly supplying babies to European pedophiles, are conspiracy theories. Even President Volodymyr Zelensky is accused of this.
Fact-checks by various countries, such as the Spanish website “Maldita”, reliable media outlets, and international agencies confirmed that these reports are part of coordinated disinformation campaigns aimed at delegitimizing the Ukrainian government and well-known individuals during the war.
One of the most popular narratives is the lie about the charity foundation of Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska. It is periodically accused of organizing the sale of children to European pedophiles under the guise of evacuation. As reported by “Maldita,” the foundation does not handle child evacuation but restores homes and provides assistance to large foster families.
This conspiracy theory has also been written about by the portal 15min. The foundation was even linked to J. Epstein.
Also read: Again a propaganda victim: is Olena Zelenska’s foundation really involved in child trafficking?
Also read: Old propaganda tale, new angle: Zelenska’s foundation linked to Epstein files
15min verdict: false. Claims about a child trafficking network in Ukraine supplying children to Western pedophiles are conspiracy theories.
Publication prepared by 15min in cooperation with Meta, aiming to stop the spread of misleading news on social media. More about the program and its rules – here.
