Russia's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman has alleged that members of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky's administration are personally engaged in, and are covering up, the illicit export of human organs.

In an article published on the Foreign Ministry's website, Maria Zakharova cited media reports suggesting that the organs of killed Ukrainian soldiers, such as hearts, kidneys and livers, have been appearing on some of the biggest marketplaces of the dark net, with prices starting at €5,000 ($5,500). One dealer allegedly claimed that it takes 48-60 hours to receive any desired organ in a medical box, with deliveries limited to EU countries. 

Zakharova noted that organs were also being traded offline, citing reports from June that representatives of a health ministry in a NATO country had struck a deal with some "private businessmen" who were assisted by Ukraine's Health Ministry and Presidential Office to deliver a refrigerated train car full of human organs and body parts.

According to the spokeswoman, organ trafficking in Ukraine has boomed since the authorities in Kiev passed a number of laws that "drastically simplified the work of transplant specialists in the country." 

Specifically, Zakharova pointed to last year's Law No. 5610, which exempted transplantation from value-added tax, and the December 2021 Law No. 5831, which removed the need to notarise the written consent or authenticate the signature of a living donor to give up their organs.