The Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament) passed legislation on Thursday prohibiting organ harvesting from military and civilian casualties of Russia’s invasion. The measure, Law No. 9558 “On Amendments to Certain Laws of Ukraine on Improving the Organization of Medical Care Using Transplantation,” received broad support, with 254 of 313 lawmakers voting in favor.
The law expands previous restrictions that only applied to casualties in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, establishing a nationwide ban on organ donation from soldiers killed in combat and civilians who died due to armed aggression against Ukraine. The legislation specifically prohibits the removal of anatomical materials from orphaned children, incapacitated individuals, and unidentified persons, as well as those who died due to law enforcement or security forces’ actions.
The law also establishes a National Transplantation Committee to review adverse reactions and complaints while introducing an emergency transplantation status for patients requiring immediate care. According to the law’s explanatory note, these measures aim to eliminate legal gaps that could be exploited for misinformation.
The legislation also introduces stricter verification procedures for organ donation cases, including enhanced oversight of the donor-recipient matching process and mandatory review of any reported irregularities in transplantation procedures. The law requires non-profit organizations to operate all Ukrainian information systems and registries for potential donors.
According to Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation, the legislation addresses allegedly intensified Russian disinformation efforts. In August 2023, Russia’s Foreign Ministry published claims about organ trafficking in Ukraine through Telegram channels, allegedly citing evidence of organ harvesting sites in the Kupiansk sector and the Kharkiv region. Vox Ukraine reports that Russian State Duma member Ana Kuznetsova further promoted these narratives on October 11, 2023, claiming that “black transplantation” constituted 7 percent of Ukraine’s total budget.
These allegations come against the backdrop of Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine. According to Human Rights Watch, the conflict has resulted in thousands of civilian deaths and widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, with Russian forces allegedly committing numerous violations of international humanitarian law. The Center for Countering Disinformation reports that disinformation campaigns, including allegations about organ trafficking, have reportedly appeared since 2014, particularly in Russian state media and social networks.
Under the legislation’s implementation provisions, the law will take effect the day after its official publication. The Cabinet of Ministers has been tasked with bringing its regulations into compliance with the new law within 90 days and ensuring that other central executive bodies align their normative legal acts accordingly.
