Ukraine Dismantles Alleged Odessa Ring Trafficking Orphans Overseas

Overview

• Two Ukrainian women are in custody, with a 49-year-old founder who operated from abroad charged in absentia.
• Investigators say at least 25 children were targeted, and 13 had already been taken out of Ukraine before the intervention.
• The network allegedly used forged documents and portrayed trips as vacations to facilitate illicit border crossings.
• Prosecutors report about 15 transporters helped move the children across the state border.
• Formal accusations include human trafficking, illegal border crossing, and document forgery, and authorities have not revealed the foreign destinations.