Victims sought on social networks: how trafficking schemes changed during the war

During the full-scale war, criminals are increasingly using the precarious situation of Ukrainians to recruit and subsequently exploit them. Human trafficking is masked as employment, medical treatment, marriage, adoption, and other ostensibly legitimate relationships.

This was explained in a comment to UNIAN by the acting head of the National Police of Ukraine, Maxim Tsuckiridze. His current status is also listed on the National Police’s official website.

According to Tsuckiridze, the full-scale war has significantly broadened the circle of people vulnerable to being exploited by criminals. Specifically, this concerns those who lost housing or income, were forced to move, or depend on assistance from others.

Criminals use such circumstances as an recruitment tool. Potential victims may be offered well-paid jobs, help with traveling abroad, medical treatment, marriage, or the resolution of other life issues.

The schemes themselves are becoming more complex, and exploitation is increasingly hidden behind relationships that at first glance appear legitimate. For locating people, criminals actively use social networks and messaging apps.

Earlier Tsuckiridze also spoke about cases where women were found via Telegram, lured with promises of high pay, and then forced into exploitation and blackmailed with the disclosure of personal data.

According to the figures announced by the head of the National Police, since the start of the full-scale invasion, law enforcement has registered 664 criminal offenses related to human trafficking.

The victims in these cases were identified as at least 703 people, among whom 80 children. In 579 criminal cases, investigators have already completed pre-trial investigations and sent materials to court.

Tsuckiridze emphasized that job offers, medical treatment, or marriage must be carefully checked. In particular, be wary of demands to hand over a passport, hide whereabouts, sign unclear documents, pay a large sum to intermediaries, or cease communication with relatives.

For human trafficking under aggravated circumstances, the Ukrainian Criminal Code provides up to 15 years of imprisonment with or without confiscation of property. The final punishment depends on the circumstances of the offense and the qualification established by the court.

If there is suspicion of recruitment or exploitation, it is necessary to stop communicating with the criminals, preserve correspondence and other evidence, and contact law enforcement authorities.

Also read: In Kyiv, law enforcement exposed two men who, for 26 thousand dollars, promised to organize the transfer of a serviceman to a rear unit and guaranteed that he would not be involved in active combat.