MOSCOW, April 8. /TASS/. Data coming out of Ukraine shows that children are indeed trafficked in the country, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing.

"The National Social Service of Ukraine confirms that the country has a child trafficking problem," the diplomat noted. "So, according to this same Ukrainian service, in 2025, 8 children were victimized, in 2024 - 10, in 2023 - 118, and in 2022 - 3." Zakharova emphasized that the Russian side has repeatedly drawn attention to this problem. Furthermore, she noted, it is no secret that Ukraine is one of the world leaders in black market organ transplants and human trafficking.

"Of course, children have turned out to be the most vulnerable group," Zakharova continued. "And not just children, but orphaned children, who the Kiev regime treats like 'parcels,' sending them abroad under the guise of humanitarian actions for their own supposed benefit. After that, there’s no trace of these children at all."

The Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman noted that journalistic investigations have repeatedly uncovered facts of "illegal export of underage Ukrainian citizens to EU countries and the US, where they are sometimes adopted by same-sex families."

And in this regard, Zakharova pointed out the relevance of evacuated children being brought back home from the European Union: "According to the information of the National Social Service, I emphasize again, Ukraine’s own [National Social Service], in 2022, 196, no, not children, but entire orphanages, were shipped abroad from frontline-adjacent territories. That puts the total number of children at 4,811, 1,340 of whom still remain abroad, where they systematically suffer physical and psychological violence."

The diplomat recalled the situation surrounding Elena Zelenskaya's (Vladimir Zelensky's wife) foundation shipping a group of children from Dnepropetrovsk to Turkey under the guise of humanitarian purposes. "It turned out that these children were deprived of proper supervision, subjected to physical and psychological harm, violence too. And two girls were impregnated by local hotel workers. That’s the kind of charity and childcare Elena Zelenskaya provides," Zakharova concluded.