ORGAN DONATION VS. ORGAN HARVESTING IN WAR TIMES POWS AS WELL AS ABDUCTED MINORS AS POTENTIAL VICTIMS OF THE ILLEGAL HUMAN ORGAN MARKET. ORGAN TRADE AS A MECHANISM OF THE SOCIO-CULTURAL AS WELL AS POLITICAL MANIPULATION WITHIN THE FRAME OF THE RUSSIAN WAR
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21272/eumj.2025;13(3):857-873Keywords:
Organ donation, organ harvesting, captivity, prisoners of war, full-scale Russian invasion in Ukraine, war, organ procurement, socio-cultural manipulationsAbstract
Introduction. Wars, armed conflicts, climate crises, social/economic and political instabilities render a significant number of the global population vulnerable to the manipulation, as well as particularly exposed to the human rights’ abuse. One of the most ferocious degrading practices against human beings is organ harvesting, which often leads to the flourishing of the illegal organ market in the territory of the state which is actively engaged into armed conflict or war. Some states, however, appear to benefit from the war/armed conflict conditions from the perspective of gaining the political influence through human organs/tissues “black market” distribution, especially, when the aforementioned organs and tissues were previously obtained through organ harvesting procedures performed on and against prisoners of wars, and earlier abducted newborns, children and adolescents from the counterparty-state.
Material and methods. Observational studies, case studies, ethnography, and thematic analysis.
Results. Once the cadavers of Ukrainian journalists and POWs were returned from the Russian captivity missing sometimes all human organs, the probability of the illegal organ market functioning in Russia, which is obviously being sustained by the “drastic organ influx” from the Ukrainian prisoners and minors, became not just apparent, but rather obvious.
Discussion. In this article, we shall take into a precise consideration a postulate of a probable illegal organ market functioning in the territory of Russia which engages human organs and tissues harvested from Ukrainian POWs and minors. In addition, we shall touch upon the notions of Russian socio-cultural, as well as political manipulation performed towards the global population using the tools of a specific, typical for Russia, organ donation/harvesting legal and medical system.
Downloads
References
Juliette Garside, Shaun Walker, Manisha Ganguly, Pjotr Sauer, Tetyana Nikolayenko, Anton Naumliuk and Artem Mazhulin: ’Numerous signs of torture’: a Ukrainian journalist’s detention and death in Russian prison. Retrieved from: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/apr/29/viktoriia-roshchyna-ukrainian-journalist-death-russian-prison
Vira Khmelnytska: During exchanges, the Russian Federation returns the bodies of Ukrainian prisoners of war without internal organs - relatives of the prisoners. Retrieved from: https://tsn.ua/ato/rf-pid-chas-obminiv-povertaye-tila-ukrayinskih-viyskovopolonenih-bez-vnutrishnih-organiv-rodichi-branciv-2627451.html
Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War from 21 April to 12 August 1949. Retrieved from: https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/geneva-convention-relative-treatment-prisoners-war
UN Office on Drugs and Crime. Retrieved from: : https://www.unodc.org/unodc/index.html
Ruchi Kumar: ’Basically impossible to get them back’: Russia’s mass abduction of Ukrainian children is a war crime, say experts”. Retrieved from: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jun/27/russia-ukrainian-children-abduction-war-crime
Nathaniel Raymond, Caitlin Howarth, Fact Sheet: Russia’s Kidnapping and Re-education of Ukraine’s children, Yale School of Medicine, March 17, 2025: https://medicine.yale.edu/news-article/fact-sheet-russias-kidnapping-and-re-education-of-ukraines-children/
Piechura, L.M. et al., Factors Associated with Very Long-Term Survival for Lung Transplant Recipients, The Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation, Volume 40, Issue 4, S159, retrieved from https://www.jhltonline.org/article/S1053-2498(21)00491-5/fulltext
Cohen, I. Glenn, Transplant Tourism: The Ethics and Regulation of International Markets for Organs (April 20, 2013). Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics, Vol. 41, No. 1, 2013, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2254341
Lung Transplantation in Children, Stanford Medicine, Children’s Health, Available at: https://www.stanfordchildrens.org/en/topic/default?id=lung-transplantation-in-children-90-P02951
Benden C, Inci I, Weder W, Boehler A. Size-reduced lung transplantation in children--an option worth considering, Pediatr Transplant. 2010 Jun;14(4):529-33. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1399-3046.2009.01267.x. Epub 2009 Dec 30. PMID: 20051025.
Ralf M. Bader, Kant’s theory of the highest good. Merton College, University of Oxford, Available at: https://homeweb.unifr.ch/BaderR/Pub/Highest%20good%20%28R.%20Bader%29.pdf
Maarten G.J. Snoeijs, L.W. Ernest van Heurn, Walther N.K.A. van Mook, Maarten H. Christiaans, Johannes P. van Hooff, Controlled donation after cardiac death: a European perspective, Transplantation Reviews, Volume 21, Issue 4, 2007, Pages 219-229, ISSN 0955-470X, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trre.2007.07.004.(https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0955470X07000596)
Daniel J. Lebovitz, John Magee, Karri Hobson-Pape, The Alliance DCD Educational Guide: a comprehensive resource for OPOS and Hospital patient care teams for building and supporting effective practices surrounding organ donation after circulatory death, The Alliance, Available at: https://online.fliphtml5.com/ruwhs/oslt/
Coll E, Miñambres E, Sánchez-Fructuoso A, Fondevila C, Campo-Cañaveral de la Cruz JL, Domínguez-Gil B. Uncontrolled Donation he After Circulatory Death: A Unique Opportunity. Transplantation. 2020 Aug;104(8):1542-1552. https://doi.org/10.1097/TP.0000000000003139. PMID: 32732830.
Harriet Rosanne Etheredge, Assessing Global Organ Donation Policies: Opt-in vs Opt-out, Risk Management and Healthcare Policy, Dovepress, Available at: https://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/Parliament/commit.nsf/(Evidence+Lookup+by+Com+ID)/9419A154C64EDAD4482589E?500129B0A/$file/pc.otd.230622.rpt.001.ct.pdf
What organs can be donated?, Donation Essential Blog, January 19, 2023, Available at: What Organs Can Be Donated? Available at: https://www.dovepress.com/assessing-global-organ-donation-policies-opt-in-vs-opt-out-peer-reviewed-fulltext-article-RMHP
Organ donation facts and statistics, Health and Wellness, April 7, 2023, Available at: https://www.uchealth.com/en/media-room/articles/organ-donation-facts-and-statistics#:~:text=One%20donor%2C%2075%20lives,fractures%20and%20other%20medical%20conditions.
Russian Federation public debate and its impact on the law on transplantation of human organs and tissues, Human Rights and Biomedicine, Council of Europe Portal, Available at: https://www.coe.int/en/web/human-rights-and-biomedicine/-/russian-federation-public-debate-and-its-impact-on-the-law-on-transplantation-of-human-organs-and-tissues-2016-
Bollen J, ten Hoopen R, Ysebaert D, et al.,Legal and ethical aspects of organ donation after euthanasia in Belgium and the Netherlands, Journal of Medical Ethics 2016; 42:486-489. Available at: https://jme.bmj.com/content/42/8/486
Silva e Silva, Vanessa1; Silva, Amina Regina; Rochon, Andrea; Lotherington, Ken4; Hornby, Laura; Wind, Tineke; Bollen, Jan; Wilson, Lindsay C.; Sarti, Aimee J.; Dhanani, Sonny. Organ donation following medical assistance in dying, Part I: a scoping review of legal and ethical aspects. JBI Evidence Synthesis 22(2): p 157-194, February 2024. | DOI: 10.11124/JBIES-22-00143. Available at: https://journals.lww.com/jbisrir/fulltext/2024/02000/organ_donation_following_medical_assistance_in.3.aspx#:~:text=to%20organ%20donation.-,Context,started%20in%20Spain%20in%202022
Simon Rippon, Imposing options on people in poverty: the harm of a live donor organ market. Available at: https://jme.bmj.com/content/medethics/early/2012/06/27/medethics-2011-100318.full.pdf
Karen Burbach, Deadly medicine: how the Nazis influenced modern medical ethics, University of Nebraska, Medical Center, September 14, 2005. Available at: https://www.unmc.edu/newsroom/2005/09/14/deadly-medicine-how-the-nazis-influenced-modern-medical-ethics/
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Larysa Kupriianova, Daryna Kupriianova
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
ISSN: 
