MOSCOW, May 24. /TASS/. The activity of "organ harvesters" in the combat zone in Ukraine calls for close international monitoring and urgent measures, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday.

According to her, illegal organ harvesting in Ukraine is an "accepted and proven fact." "This is a big business in armed conflict zones, extremely profitable for those who run it," the diplomat said. "Information on organ harvesting in Ukraine nowadays deserves attention and requires urgent international efforts on monitoring and taking relevant measures," she added. "The existence of this terrible bloody business is impossible without sponsorship at the highest government level," Zakharova pointed out.

She highlighted that "Ukraine has been embroiled in scandals related to illegal transplantology long before the 2014 coup d’etat and the events that followed." "Since the late 90s, there have been media reports that low-income Ukrainians were forced to sell their internal organs in order to make a living and there was information on illegal harvesting of biological materials from corpses," the diplomat explained. "However, the beginning of hostilities in the eastern part of the country has exacerbated the situation," she added.

According to the spokeswoman, the authorities of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) have information on Ukrainian nationalists illegally harvesting biological materials from POWs, locals and wounded Ukrainian soldiers. According to existing data, in the active combat zone, 20-30 people per day end up being operated on by the "organ harvesters" many of whom traveled to Artyomovsk from foreign countries specifically for this purpose.