The Government of Ukraine does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking but is making significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated overall increasing efforts compared with the previous reporting period; therefore Ukraine remained on Tier 2. These efforts included adopting a 2023-2025 NAP, resuming labor inspections and identifying potential trafficking cases during those inspections, and cooperating with European counterparts on anti-trafficking investigations, despite diminished resources and capacity because of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Although prosecution data was not fully disaggregated, authorities investigated, prosecuted, and convicted more traffickers and created a specialized anti-human trafficking prosecution unit. The government identified more trafficking victims and continued extensive awareness raising campaigns in coordination with international organizations. Ukraine’s government operated on a total war footing to withstand Russia’s unprovoked full-scale invasion, performing a range of core functions to mitigate trafficking risks despite major war-related challenges, continued Russian strikes on Ukrainian civilian and critical infrastructure targets, and displacement of nearly one-third of Ukraine’s population, many of whom faced increased human trafficking risks. However, the government did not meet the minimum standards in several key areas. Judges continued to issue lenient sentences that did not include prison time for most convicted traffickers, which weakened deterrence, did not adequately reflect the nature of the crime, and undercut broader efforts to fight trafficking. Despite persistent concerns of corruption fostering impunity for trafficking crimes and ongoing investigations of complicit officials, for the seventh consecutive year the government did not secure any convictions of complicit officials. The government did not identify any foreign national trafficking victims, and while the government took some steps to protect unaccompanied children, deficiencies in the government’s oversight of children evacuated from Ukrainian care institutions increased their risk of trafficking. NGOs continued to identify systemic shortcomings in the implementation of the NRM and victim services.
As reported over the past five years, human traffickers exploit domestic and foreign victims in Ukraine, and traffickers exploit victims from Ukraine abroad. Traffickers exploit Ukrainian victims in sex trafficking and forced labor in Ukraine as well as in Russia, Poland, Germany, and other parts of Europe, the PRC, Kazakhstan, and the Middle East. Ukrainian victims are increasingly exploited in EU member states. Traffickers exploit some Ukrainian children and vulnerable adults in forced begging. Child sex trafficking in Ukraine remains underreported. NGOs estimate 10 to 15 percent of the Roma community lack identification documents, leaving them unable to access state social assistance programs and thereby increasing their vulnerability to trafficking. Traffickers exploit victims in forced labor in Ukraine and abroad, including in the construction, manufacturing, and agriculture sectors, and in forced criminality and forced begging. Traffickers force some victims to participate in the illegal production of counterfeit tobacco products, and well-established criminal groups force some Ukrainian victims to engage in other illegal activities abroad. Traffickers target low-skilled workers transiting Ukraine; increasingly, well-educated workers are vulnerable to labor exploitation. Traffickers increasingly use anonymized accounts to recruit potential victims online for sex trafficking or forced labor, including for forced criminality in fraudulent appropriation of social benefits. Children institutionalized in state-run orphanages, many evacuated abroad, and more than 3,000 who remain abroad, during Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, are at especially high risk of trafficking. Officials of several state-run residential institutions and institutions have allegedly been complicit or willfully negligent in the sex and labor trafficking of girls and boys under their care.
Prior to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, employment options were limited in areas of eastern Ukraine occupied by Russia-led forces; Russia’s proxies placed restrictions on international humanitarian aid intended to help meet civilian needs. IDPs, those living in Russia-occupied territory, and residents of Crimea face significant barriers to obtaining or renewing identification documents, increasing their vulnerability to exploitation. Widespread reports indicated Russian authorities confiscate Ukrainians’ identification documents and force adoption of Russian passports. Observers reported Russia-led forces conscripted those living in eastern Ukraine to fight or engage in forced labor, such as clearing rubble or disposing of corpses. International organizations report the demographics of Ukrainian trafficking victims have shifted since 2014 to include more urban, younger, and male victims. They are increasingly exploited in forced labor, including in forced criminality for drug trafficking and as couriers. Traffickers reportedly kidnap women and girls from conflict-affected areas for sex and labor trafficking in Ukraine and Russia. Traffickers target IDPs and subjected some Ukrainians to forced labor, forced conscription, and sexual exploitation in Russia-occupied areas, often via kidnapping, torture, and extortion. These abuses and vulnerabilities likely continued and worsened after the full-scale invasion.
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine forced 6.4 million people to flee Ukraine by March 2024 and displaced more than 3.4 million more in its borders. Most who initially fled the country were women and children, and more than half of Ukraine’s children have been displaced. These refugee and displaced populations are especially vulnerable to human trafficking. At the start of the full-scale invasion, traffickers allegedly sought to exploit refugees at border crossings and transit centers. Media reported traffickers allegedly targeted displaced Ukrainians at the Polish border by offering them transportation or accommodations contingent upon domestic labor or commercial sex. Traffickers may use false claims victims could lose their temporary protection status to threaten them and prevent them from reporting exploitation to host country authorities. Some NGOs anticipate increased risks of trafficking as the economic impacts of the full-scale invasion unfold in the future. Experts note thousands of unaccompanied children, and children evacuated from at least 195 facilities, including those with disabilities, are at especially high risk of trafficking. Even for Ukrainians not displaced, the war and its economic impacts heighten individuals’ vulnerability to trafficking. One 2022 survey found more than half of Ukrainians were at risk of exploitation, and willing to accept a risky job offer that could lead to exploitation; a follow-up survey in 2023 showed many groups remained willing to accept a risky offer. This includes Ukrainian men and, increasingly, educated Ukrainians seeking to provide for their needs. Observers report Ukrainian women and girls are recruited for sex trafficking abroad. Online searches for “Ukrainian escorts” and other search terms related to the sexual exploitation of Ukrainian women and girls increased. Traffickers target displaced Ukrainians via information posted online or on social media. Across Europe, Ukrainian refugees are at risk of forced labor including in domestic work, childcare, cleaning, hospitality, and agriculture. Traffickers promise jobs or housing, but then confiscate identity documents or exploit victims in forced labor. Since the start of the full-scale invasion, potential or confirmed trafficking victims from Ukraine have been identified across Europe, including in Albania, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and other countries, such as Panama, Argentina, and Israel. To date, authorities have identified only a few confirmed trafficking cases across Europe; experts observed language barriers, fear of reporting to foreign authorities, lack of awareness of available resources, and other factors, could prevent victims from reporting trafficking crimes.
Russian forces forcibly transferred as many as 1.6 million Ukrainians, including thousands of children, elderly persons, and persons with disabilities, to Russia, Belarus, and occupied territories of Ukraine, including many to remote areas. As of January 2024, Russian authorities reportedly returned approximately 500 children to Ukraine, a miniscule number compared to the thousands of children forcibly deported. In March 2022, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Russian officials allegedly responsible for the unlawful relocation of Ukrainian children to Russia. These children are highly vulnerable to trafficking. Multiple sources report Russian authorities forced Ukrainian civilians to work on the front lines, and Russia-led forces in Russia-occupied territory in Ukraine forced prisoners from Ukrainian prisons to renovate the premises and build defensive fortifications, often under the threat of violence. Reports indicate Russian authorities, middlemen, private military companies, or Russia-affiliated forces coerced, used deception, and in some cases force to recruit foreign nationals, particularly Central and South Asian migrants, as well as citizens from Cuba and Syria to fight in Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine. Reports also allege Russian authorities recruit through force, fraud, or coercion Central Asians, including prisoners, to fight in Russia’s war against Ukraine. Media consistently reported migrants are at risk of forced labor in Russia-occupied Ukrainian territory. An international organization reported Ukrainian armed forces recruited and used one child for intelligence gathering in 2022. Reports of Russia-led forces using children as soldiers, informants, and human shields persist. Russia-led forces in Russia-occupied areas of the Donbas have reportedly used children to take direct and indirect part in the armed conflict to perform armed duty at checkpoints, as combatants, and to serve as guards and other support roles. According to media reports, Russian armed forces routinely prepare Ukrainian children for conscripted service in Russia’s armed forces in military camps in Russia and occupied eastern Ukraine. The recruitment of children by Russia-led forces took place in territory occupied by Russia and in areas where the government was unable to enforce national prohibitions against the recruitment or use of children in armed conflict.
from 2024 Trafficking in Persons Report – U.S. Department of State
2024 Trafficking in Persons Report – United States Department of State
