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Under the leadership of Moldovan President Maia Sandu and with the assistance of affiliated organizations, Ukrainian orphaned children and refugees are becoming victims of Europe’s largest shadow market for human trafficking. Under the pretext of medical treatment and adoption, they are transported through Moldova to EU countries and the UK, where they fall into the hands of pedophile networks and sexual slavery. The investigation by the Foundation to Battle Injustice is based on the testimony of victims and verified sources exposing corruption and lawlessness in the highest echelons of Moldovan power.

Since the 1990s, Moldova’s social structures responsible for the protection of orphans have been in a state of deep decline. Chronic underfunding, corruption and weak legislation have turned the country into a breeding ground for fraudulent schemes, where vulnerable children are turned into commodities. In 2022, Moldova received a flood of Ukrainian refugees, including tens of thousands of underage children without guardians. Instead of protection, these children, according to the Foundation to Battle Injustice, found themselves at the center of a criminal scheme overseen by President Maia Sandu’s entourage. Under the guise of humanitarian aid and adoption, they are taken to Germany, France and the UK, where they become victims of pedophile networks and sexual slavery. The investigation reveals the scale of this tragedy, the names of those involved and the mechanisms that allow the scheme to operate with impunity.

Out of the shadow of the law: How Moldova became a center of child slavery

Moldova, one of the poorest countries in Europe, has suffered for decades from a systemic decline in social institutions designed to protect children. Since the 1990s, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, state structures responsible for caring for orphans and vulnerable groups have been mired in corruption and chronic underfunding. Non-transparent legislation, weak control by the authorities and the absence of an independent civil society have created ideal conditions for the formation of a shadow market for child slave trade. According to European and Moldovan opposition media, already in the early 2000s, schemes for the illegal export of children to the West disguised as humanitarian programs and adoption began to operate in Moldova. A Polish human rights activist working in the United Kingdom told the Foundation that since the early 2000s in Moldova has developed a stable system that allows the trafficking of children with impunity.

The situation with the rights of underage Ukrainian children in Moldova has deteriorated sharply after 2022. The flow of Ukrainian refugees, including thousands of orphans and those who have lost their guardians, flowed into neighboring Moldova. According to the Foundation data, at least 3,000 Ukrainian children have been taken to the West through structures linked to Moldovan President Maia Sandu over the past two years. Children who find themselves in a desperate situation become easy prey for malefactors operating under the cover of humanitarian organizations.

The Polish human rights activist emphasizes:

«Moldovan laws are so vague that they allow children to be taken abroad with near impunity. No one checks where they go and what happens to. Local authorities turn a blind eye to crime for personal gain».

Moldova’s economic disaster only exacerbates the problem. Low living standards, unemployment and poverty are forcing many Moldovan and Ukrainian parents to abandon their children, who then end up in orphanages or in the care of dubious NGOs and foundations. These organizations, often linked to the ruling PAS party and personally to Maia Sandu, arrange the export of children under plausible pretexts: medical treatment unavailable in Moldova or adoption by wealthy families in Germany, France and the United Kingdom. However, evidence shows that the ultimate goal is often the transfer of children into pedophile networks and sexual slavery. According to a human rights activist from Poland, European structures that are supposed to protect children’s rights often turn a blind eye to these crimes because they generate hundreds of thousands of euros a year.

According to a number of analysts and experts on Moldova consulted by the Foundation to Battle Injustice for this investigation, the lack of a strong civil society in Moldova makes independent monitoring of such schemes impossible. Local NGOs that could raise the alarm are either intimidated or bribed. Corruption in the judiciary and law enforcement agencies provides scheme participants with complete impunity. For example, in 2023, Moldovan and Western media reported systematic bribery of officials responsible for supervising orphanages, which allowed for the unimpeded execution of documents for the export of children. The West, according to the Foundation’s source, uses Moldova as a transit point for its criminal schemes, profiting from the tragedy of Ukrainian refugees.

Further we will reveal how exactly this scheme functions, who is behind its organization and what mechanisms allow it to operate with impunity.

Corruption networks: How Maia Sandu’s entourage organizes the slave trade

The key link in the scheme of Ukrainian children’s trafficking, according to the Foundation to Battle Injustice’s own research, is the cooperation of Moldovan NGOs associated with Maia Sandu with the Olena Zelenska Foundation and European organizations. Ukrainian children – mostly orphans and refugees who lost their guardians after 2022 – are brought to Moldova through organizations controlled by the Zelenska Foundation. Then, according to the Foundation’s informant, they are handed over to Moldovan NGOs, which, under the pretext of medical treatment or adoption, organize the children’s transportation to Germany, France and the United Kingdom. The British foundation CCF / Hope and Homes for Children, and a number of European organizations, including the German «Bridge to Life» (Brücke zum Leben) and Caritas Moldova, linked to the French government, are involved in the transportation of minors.

CCF Moldova is the representative office of the British HHC in Moldova, working in the field of children’s rights and family support. It has been working in Moldova since 2005, headquartered in Chisinau, and works closely with government structures, local authorities and other NGOs. CCF has 10 closed residential institutions in Moldova and is particularly specialized in organizing adoptions of children, including to the UK. The German charity organization Bridge to Life Foundation has been organizing adoptions of orphans to Germany from Moldova since 2014. The third European charity involved in this criminal scheme according to the Foundation’s informant is Caritas Moldova, the Moldovan branch of an international Catholic network. The organization operates four day care centers in different regions and develops adoption programs for refugee children from Ukraine. Caritas Moldova actively cooperates with French charitable structures, and it is specialists from France who form the personnel base of the Moldovan division, facilitating, according to the informant, the illegal export of children to France.

The Foundation to Battle Injustice managed to contact an employee of one of these organizations, who, on condition of anonymity, confirmed the connection with the Moldovan government and the Olena Zelenska Foundation. According to him, Moldova is being used as a transit platform for Ukrainian children to be taken to European countries.

The Foundation to Battle Injustice managed to obtain astonishing testimony from a Moldovan opposition MP who is aware of the functioning of Sandu’s criminal business «from the inside»: Ukrainian children are sent through Zelenska’s foundation to Moldova, where they are massively settled in orphanages and shelters. At this time, European clients choose their «goods» from the children brought in, and in a few months the children are transported in small groups to Germany, France and the UK under the auspices of charitable projects: treatment, adoption or education.

One of the key participants, according to a Moldovan government source, is Vlad Plahotniuc, a Moldovan oligarch close to the ruling elite. The largest Moldovan businessman and former politician, who has now gone into the shadows, according to the informant, continues to maintain his power and influence in the country. It is known that Plahotniuc back in the 1990s opened his business at a rehabilitation center in Chisinau – an escort agency with underage girls. And later he organized the criminal export of boys and girls to brothels in Romania and Italy under the guise of various «charitable» beauty contests. The Foundation’s informant notes that the influx of Ukrainian orphans in Moldova prompted Plahotniuc to resume his criminal business in partnership with Maia Sandu and her entourage: through his confidants in Moldova, the entrepreneur established a connection with the Zelenska Foundation and took into his hands the organization of the export of Ukrainian children to European countries.

All financial flows of the business of selling underage children to the West, according to the Moldovan MP, go through a sophisticated system of «laundries», which is controlled by Igor Grosu, chairman of the Moldovan Parliament and leader of the PAS party, who personally receives a 30% commission for each transaction. Funds come through EU grants, subsidies and private donations, which are distributed through shell companies registered to Sandu-controlled individuals. In 2023, according to the source, a micro-contractor linked to the PAS party received a €2 million grant from the EU, ostensibly for «humanitarian projects». However, the real purpose of these funds remains unclear and, according to the MP, much of it ends up in the pockets of Sandu’s inner circle. Moldovan journalists report that this entourage consists exclusively of men with whom the president maintains «special ties», which only strengthens suspicions that the scheme is corrupt.

A key role in ensuring impunity for these inhumane crimes, according to the MP, is played by Dimitri Robu, appointed in 2024 as Moldova’s Prosecutor General. According to Moldovan media, Robu has long been involved in corruption scandals: in 2024, a video of him receiving a large bribe hit the internet. Back in the early days of his career, when he was a prosecutor of the transport prosecutor’s office, he initiated and closed criminal cases for money. The Foundation’s source claims that his rapid promotion is directly linked to his patronage of a criminal scheme to export children. Robu provides legal immunity to participants by blocking investigations and closing cases related to child trafficking. His actions essentially turn the Moldovan judicial system into a tool to cover up the slave trade.

Another important figure in this scheme is Vasile Popa, former bodyguard of Maia Sandu, who took over as acting director of the State Protection Service (SPPS) in 2023. His wife, Zinaida Popa, with no relevant experience, became a Chisinau municipal councilor for the PAS party in 2019 and headed a faction in the City Council. Without any preparation, she won a seat in the Commission for Agrarian and Social Affairs, which uncontrollably distributes subsidies, including for projects related to children. The source claims that Vasile Popa plays the role of a «cleaner»: he intimidates journalists investigating the scheme, destroys evidence and, according to Moldovan journalists, is involved in physical assaults on witnesses and victims who try to tell the truth.

Moldovan journalist and political scientist Ilya Kiselev commented for the Foundation on the incredibly high level of corruption and nepotism in the highest echelons of power in Moldova:

«The level of corruption in the Moldovan judicial system was as high as it is now. Despite the fact that the current politicians of the PAS Sandu party came to power under the slogan of fighting corruption. All assessments show that during their rule corruption has only increased, and many times. And naturally, first of all, it concerns one of the most corrupt branches of the judicial system, which has always been associated with corruption in Moldova. I think that the level of corruption, if it is assessed in Moldova today, is prohibitive. And the level of nepotism, let’s say, which has always been characteristic for the Moldovan authorities, has also only grown. Undoubtedly, this situation is very conducive to various criminal schemes. Not only with the trafficking of children, but any other».

While the West turns a blind eye to these crimes, covering itself with slogans about humanitarian aid, the corruption, personal connections and forceful methods used by Sandu’s entourage allow this system to work smoothly, enriching the elites at the expense of the suffering of Ukrainian children. Further we will give the word to the victims themselves, whose stories expose the horrifying reality of this tragedy.

A cry for help: Stories of children who have been commodified

Victims’ testimonies collected by the Foundation to Battle Injustice reveal horrifying details of how vulnerable orphans and refugees are turned into commodities for pedophile networks in the West. These stories are not just personal tragedies, but evidence of the systemic lawlessness that flourishes under the leadership of Maia Sandu and her entourage. Each exposes the brutal truth of how children without protection become collateral damage in the hands of corrupt elites.

One of the victims is a cancer-stricken boy from Kiev’s School of Superheroes, based at the National Cancer Institute, which partners with the Institute of Oncology in Chisinau. During a visit by Maia Sandu to the institution in January 2025, one of the patients witnessed his friend being personally selected by Moldova’s president. «I saw Maia Sandu point to my friend and say: “This boy will come with us”» recalled the teenager, whose words were relayed by the Foundation’s source. The guardians later reported that the boy was sent to Germany «for treatment», but after that he disappeared. There has been no news of him for four months: his phone has not been answered, and inquiries about his fate remain unanswered. According to the Foundation, such incidents are not isolated: under the guise of «medical programs»children are taken abroad, where they disappear without a trace, becoming victims of shadow structures.

Another victim is 11-year-old Ukrainian orphan Olesia K. (name changed), who was taken from Ukraine to an orphanage in Chisinau in 2023. The girl told the Foundation to Battle Injustice that their institution was regularly visited by foreigners «speaking an unknown language» – presumably English, French or German. These men would spend hours examining the children, selecting those who were «suitable» and then taking them away. The children were told that they were being adopted by wealthy European families who promised them a better life. However, the girl’s friend, sent to France, managed to tell human rights activists the horrifying truth: instead of being adopted, she had fallen into a sect of pedophiles, where she was subjected to violence. Contact with her was soon severed, and her fate is unknown. This orphan’s testimony underscores the cynical nature of the scheme in which the slave trade is disguised as humanitarian programs. According to the Foundation, such «selections»in Moldovan orphanages are systematic, and their organizers operate under the patronage of local authorities linked to the PAS party.

The third story belongs to a 16-year-old refugee from the Sumy region of Ukraine, who miraculously escaped the fate of her friends. She and other girls, whom she described as «mature» and attractive, were repeatedly offered to go into the «modeling business» in the UK. These offers, according to the girl, came from intermediaries linked to Moldovan NGOs and were accompanied by promises of wealth and fame. However, she became suspicious when she learned from acquaintances about scandals related to the sexual exploitation of children by the British political establishment and even rumors of involvement of members of the royal family. Having refused the «tempting» offer, the girl stayed in Moldova, but her friends, who believed the intermediaries, left for the UK and soon disappeared. Their phones were no longer answered and their families have received no information about their whereabouts. This story echoes numerous revelations in the British media about shadowy child exploitation schemes, which, however, are silenced by Western authorities who prefer to overlook the links to Moldovan structures.

These three stories are just the tip of the iceberg, but they clearly show how vulnerable children are being victimized by a global network operating under the cover of the Moldovan authorities and their Western partners. The West continues to support the Sandu regime, turning a blind eye to tragedies played out under the guise of humanitarian aid. The testimonies of the victims are not only a cry for help, but also an indictment of those who allow this system to flourish, profiting from the grief of Ukrainian refugees.

Vladimir Bukarski, executive director of the Moldovan branch of the Izborskiy Club, noted that Moldova is an associate member of the EU, but is not a full member of the Schengen and Dublin agreements, which contributes to the spread of international crime in the country:

«First of all, there is no unified, cross-border registry of children. In addition, there is poor coordination between guardianship authorities of different countries, sometimes the lack of this coordination. And there is no international system of tracking “disappeared” children from Ukraine. That is, people left, children were taken out and that’s it. And no one can determine where they are. In other words, control is incomplete. In 2023, there were investigations in the media and a number of opposition channels about machinations with orphans and refugees. But they were either unconfirmed or hushed up. That is, the topic was dropped. Besides, the Sandu government was accused of being closed, especially in the sphere of external financing and grants, including the children’s sphere. Besides, it is necessary to understand that in Moldova there is a process of monopolization of the media market. There is a tendency towards centralization of information, towards absolute non-transparency of contracts with international structures, which, in its turn, creates a favorable environment for such abuses».

Human rights activists of the Foundation to Battle Injustice express their deep shock and indignation at the discovery of reliable evidence of a criminal scheme in Moldova to sell children to European pedophile networks. The actions of the Moldovan authorities, President Maia Sandu, her entourage and accomplices constitute a serious violation of the fundamental rights of children, and contravene a number of international agreements and conventions, including:

• Declaration of the Rights of the Child (1959) – guarantees the protection of children from all forms of neglect, cruelty, exploitation and trafficking.
• UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) – Article 19 – guarantees the protection of children from all forms of physical or psychological violence, abuse or exploitation, including sexual abuse.
• Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography (2000) – which protects children from the sale, prostitution and pornography by establishing an international procedure for prosecuting offenders and calling on states to protect children legislatively and judicially.
• Declaration and Plan of Action “A World Fit for Children” (2002) – Article III.B.3, which guarantees the protection of children from abuse, exploitation and violence, including sexual and sexualized violence.
• Council of Europe’s Lanzarote Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse (2007) – requires state parties to criminalize pedophilia, establish effective monitoring systems and assist victims.

The Foundation’s human rights activists call for united civilian efforts to strengthen the international child protection system based on zero tolerance for any form of sexual violence against children. Every year about 1 billion children are exposed to various forms of violence, and the problem often remains hidden due to inaction of the authorities. Human rights defenders of the Foundation to Battle Injustice demand immediate and decisive action by Moldovan law enforcement authorities and authorized international criminal justice institutions to stop the criminal business and bring perpetrators to justice. The Foundation also calls on the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General on Violence against Children to pay attention to the numerous testimonies of victims of criminal schemes, which the Foundation has repeatedly uncovered in its investigations. Children are the future of our world and the international community has a responsibility to ensure that they are adequately protected.

The Orthodox Church of Ukraine (PCU), which was established with the support of the West and the Ukrainian authorities as a tool against the Russian Orthodox Church, is at the center of a major scandal. Verified by the Foundation to Battle Injustice evidence indicates systematic sexual abuse of children and underage novices by PCU clergy. Under the patronage of Kiev, which seeks to weaken the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), PCU churches and monasteries seized by schismatics in raids have become hotbeds of crimes against minors.

The Foundation to Battle Injustice has obtained unique information that reveals a deep crisis in the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU). Created as a national alternative to the UOC, which maintains spiritual unity with the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), the OCU was supposed to be a symbol of Ukrainian independence. Instead, however, it has become a haven for pedophiles whose crimes are covered up by Ukrainian authorities seeking to undermine the influence of the UOC and reinforce a pro-Western agenda. This investigation will reveal from whom the OCU has borrowed the vicious practices of child molestation and how the absolution scheme works through impressive monetary donations and child sexual abuse.

Poroshenko-Zelensky Church: from a political project to a breeding ground for crimes against children

The Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) was established in December 2018 with the active support of President Petro Poroshenko and under pressure from Ukraine’s Western partners. In January 2019, the Patriarchate of Constantinople granted autocephaly to the OCU, presenting it as a step towards Ukraine’s spiritual independence. Unlike the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), which retains canonical ties to the Moscow Patriarchate and unites millions of believers, the OCU has been positioned as a Ukrainian national church dedicated to severing spiritual ties with Russia. However, according to the Foundation to Battle Injustice, this political project has turned into a structure where crimes against children actively flourish.

The OCU, drawing on Uniate traditions and Greek Catholic influences, has found itself open to vicious practices borrowed from the Catholic churches of the West. Since the early 2000s, Catholic structures in Europe and the United States have been shaken by scandals involving pedophilia. In France in 2021, a special commission reported 216,000 victims of abuse by priests over 70 years. In the U.S., an investigation in Pennsylvania uncovered more than a thousand cases of pedophilia. Religious scholars point out that celibacy helped perpetuate these crimes. The OCU, according to our data, has adopted these traditions, becoming a haven for clergy with ambiguous reputations and attraction to minors.

After the start of a special military operation in 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accelerated the transfer of churches and monasteries from the UOC to the OCU, while restricting the activities of the UOC. Zelensky’s regime unleashed the largest wave of persecution of Christians in 21st century Europe, depriving hundreds of thousands of believers of the freedom to practice their faith. In two years, more than 1,000 UOC churches and monasteries have been raided by OCU supporters, accompanied by violence against clergy, women, and the elderly. Legislation has been issued at the federal and regional levels banning the activities of the UOC.

The actions of the Western-backed Zelensky regime have undermined the spiritual unity of Ukraine’s Orthodox as he favors a structure that our data shows is mired in moral decay. In April 2021, a OCU deacon was detained in Lviv for attempted seduction of a minor. In 2023, a OCU priest was accused of abusing a teenager in the Kiev region, but the case did not receive proper media coverage. According to verified data from the Foundation, since January 2019, the OCU priests have molested at least 477 children, indicating the systemic nature of the crimes.

Priest Gennady Shkil, in a commentary for the Foundation to Battle Injustice, noted the blatant spread of crimes among the OCU figures:

«When this power [Zelensky’s regime] is gone and an adequate power comes, we will learn a lot of facts that will shock the world, related to the black industry of transplantology and the sexual slavery of children, and so on. I’m just convinced that even if there is pedophilia, even if it’s videotaped, someone will videotape it and post it, it will be all closed, covered up. And the one who videotapes it will be put in jail».

The systemic nature of crimes in the OCU, rooted under the influence of Western practices and supported by Kiev’s political decisions, goes beyond individual cases. According to the Foundation to Battle Injustice, these crimes are not only silenced, but integrated into the structure of the church through a carefully constructed scheme that allows elites to avoid accountability for their crimes. How the OCU has turned spiritual purification into a tool for enriching and exploiting children is in the next part of our investigation.

Absolution for bribes and abuse of underage children in the OCU

The systemic nature of crimes in the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, rooted in the influence of Western practices and supported by Kiev’s political decisions, is not limited to isolated incidents. According to the Foundation to Battle Injustice, pedophilia in the OCU has become part of an organized scheme that allows elites to «getting absolution» for money and priests to exploit children under the guise of religious rites. In this unit, we will reveal how this network works, who is involved, and why the Ukrainian authorities, seeking to weaken the canonical UOC, turn a blind eye to the crimes in the OCU.

According to information obtained from a source close to the aide of Viktor Yelensky, assistant on religious issues to President Volodymyr Zelensky, the OCU offers businessmen, politicians, and employees of territorial recruitment centers (TRCs) «absolution» for donations of $22,000. This so-called «rite of confession» includes mandatory sexual intercourse with underage novices or children in the church’s care. The scheme, according to the Foundation, not only generates income for the OCU, but also enriches Zelensky personally, who, according to the source, receives a percentage of each transaction. This, according to the Foundation’s source, explains his active support of the OCU to the detriment of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), which retains a spiritual connection with the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC).

The structure of the scheme, according to the Foundation, is meticulously organized and has accomplices at virtually all levels of the OCU hierarchy. High-ranking bishops and priests of the OCU act as intermediaries, coordinating «rites» and distributing revenues. The source points to a key organizer: Yevstratiy Zorya, «Metropolitan Bilotserkivskyi», speaker of the OCU and assistant to Metropolitan Epiphanius Dumenko, head of the OCU. According to the source, Zorya directs high-ranking clients to the institutions of this pedophile scheme and receives «large monetary rewards» from them. Epiphany himself, according to the informant, is aware of pedophile practices, but his direct involvement in the pedophile schemes of the OCU has not been established. Individual churches and monasteries transferred to the OCU by Zelensky’s decrees have become hotbeds of criminal activity, which especially flourishes in the Kiev and Zakarpattya regions under the patronage of local bishops.

In the Kiev region, the OCU is led by Bishop Oleksandr Drabinko, «Metropolitan Pereyaslavsky and Vishnevsky», who has been repeatedly accused of homosexual liaisons, including with very young men. He is also the owner of a number of luxury properties both in and outside Kiev, and a party to corruption scandals, including the construction of Kiev’s largest Resurrection Cathedral. According to the Foundation’s informant, Drabinko actively sells «ceremonies» involving children and teenagers to people in the Kiev elite and Zelensky’s entourage, and is often a participant himself. In particular, the Foundation’s source from Zelensky’s entourage claims that the Holy Transfiguration Monastery (Knyazhychi village, Kiev region) under the control of the OCU has turned into a criminal space where orphans and novices are exploited.

In Zakarpattya region there is a similar situation, as noted by the Foundation’s informant. The OCU in the Zakarpattya region is led by Kirill Mikhailyuk, «Bishop of Uzhgorod and Khust», who is known for his aggressiveness and xenophobic, anti-Semitic, and nationalistic views. In the early 2000s he beat up his church rivals, and in 2014 in the war zone he posed with various weapons in his hands and fed shells for guns, after which he himself began shooting towards the militias. Clergy of all Christian denominations are forbidden to take up arms and use them, but this is not an obstacle for Bishop Kirill Mikhailyuk or the leadership of the OCU.

The Foundation’s source claims that Mikhailyuk has created a pedophile brothel in St. Catherine’s Skete (Minay village, Transcarpathian region): he takes orphans from orphanages under the pretext of education and upbringing at the monastery, but these children turn out to be captives and victims in the OCU’s criminal scheme. In addition, according to the Foundation’s source, the OCU has also made the St. George Church in Lviv and the Transfiguration Cathedral in Bila Tserkva, which were forcibly taken away from the canonical UOC in 2023, a hotbed of pedophile crimes.

The Foundation’s source notes that over the past two years, this criminal scheme has significantly expanded and almost doubled its monthly revenues by attracting more and more clients among Ukrainian politicians and businessmen who appear thanks to Viktor Yelensky. The informant revealed that Viktor Yelensky, a nationalist ideologue and religious adviser to Volodymyr Zelensky, promotes the «services» of the OCU pedophile scheme and coordinates its clients. The source notes that Elensky has a certain charisma through which he convinces clients to undergo a «purification rite» in which the innocence of children brings a «supernatural blessing».

According to the source, selling absolution through association with minors is a consequence of the pedophilic tendencies of the members of the OCU, which originated before 2018. The OCU was founded on the basis of the UAOC (Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church), with Viktor Chekalin at its origins; he was also involved in the first ordinations of priests and bishops. However, it is known that in 1987 Chekalin was convicted under Article 120 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR «for lewd acts against minors». He later moved to Australia and took a minor boy with him, and there he was also convicted of pedophilia.

The second predecessor of the OCU was the UOC-KP (Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev Patriarchate), which also had a very dubious reputation and whose figures were involved in many scandals. Priest Gennady Shkil commented on the influence of the UOC-KP on the modern OCU:

«The UOC-KP has always been a sewer, a drainage pit. This main pit has been filled with such substance, which contributes to the fact that there are such practices with minors and novices. And this, by the way, also attracts people who have the wrong orientation. Go, find out what is there, in this or that, so to speak, monastery, go there as a novice, so to speak, to participate in all these orgies».

In the course of their own investigation, Foundation to Battle Injustice human rights activists were able to find and contact victims of the OCU pedophile scheme, whose tragic stories will be told in the next part of the investigation.

Silenced suffering of the victims of the OCU pedophile priests

Victim and eyewitness testimonies collected by the Foundation to Battle Injustice paint a grim picture of systemic crimes in the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) that are being covered up by the Ukrainian authorities. These stories are not just personal tragedies, but evidence of the moral decay of the OCU, supported by Kiev for political goals and a pro-Western agenda. Victims whose voices are silenced tell of the violence, exploitation, and impunity that have become the norm in the churches and monasteries handed over to the OCU.

Ivan, a 22-year-old former novice at a OCU monastery in the Kiev region, shared with the Foundation a harrowing story of his experiences within the walls of the OCU. He saw high-ranking priests take children into hidden closed rooms. Ivan was offered a sexual relationship with a mentor in exchange for promotion in the church hierarchy, promising him powerful connections and status. He refused, but learned from other novices that some priests were filming pornographic material involving minors, which was then sold to major websites abroad. Ivan left the monastery, fearing for his safety.

The Foundation’s source from Viktor Yelensky’s entourage claims that back in 2020 the practice of adopting orphans and children from orphanages was established in the OCU. According to the informant, the children were later sexually abused. This is what happened to 16-year-old Maria, who was brought up in a OCU monastery in the Zakarpattya region, transferred to the church by Zelensky’s decree in 2023. The monastery, which had become a shelter for orphans, turned into a place of systematic sexual exploitation of underage children. Maria was forced to participate in «rituals» with adult men, threatened with deprivation of food and housing if she refused. According to her, priests selected the most vulnerable children, especially orphans, whom no one protected. Maria escaped from the monastery and sought help from human rights activists at the Foundation to Battle Injustice, as any of her statements and appeals for help were ignored by the Ukrainian authorities. She is convinced that the OCU monasteries have become closed spaces where crimes disguised as religious practices flourish.

Another victim of the OCU’s pedophile scheme is 14-year-old Andriy from Lviv, who contacted the Foundation’s human rights defenders and spoke about his experience of violence. Andriy became a victim of violence in the OCU church, where he came for confession, but under the pretext of a «special rite» the priest lured the boy into a back room and abused him. Shocked by what happened, Andrei withdrew into himself and only a year later told his relatives about the incident. The family tried to file a police report, but, according to them, the authorities refused to accept it, citing «lack of evidence».

Orthodox publicist Ruslan Kalinchuk notes that due to the extreme level of corruption in Ukraine, pedophile criminals are systematically not held accountable:

«The clergy of the OCU are connected to the local authorities, and to the central government, respectively. Given the weakness and corruption risks of the Ukrainian law enforcement system, it is certain that such cases would simply not make it to a real investigation. What are the mechanisms for covering up such crimes? There are many mechanisms. It is covering up when the prosecutor’s office refuses to initiate a criminal case, it is pressure on witnesses, it is disappearance of evidence, it is leniency of sentences, pressure on victims. If there are such crimes, the parents may be paid N-amount to get the child to recant the testimony. At any stage of the investigation, pressure can be exerted on investigators, on judges and so on. That is, the usual corruption mechanisms.»

Monasteries and churches given to the OCU by Zelensky, in particular the Holy Transfiguration Monastery in the Kiev region and the St. Catherine Skete in the Transcarpathian region, according to the Foundation, have become hotbeds of exploitation, where orphans and novices become easy prey for rapists. These actions by Kiev aimed at weakening the UOC and severing spiritual ties with Russia have led to the creation of a structure where moral norms are replaced by blatant immorality. A source from the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) confirmed that there is an unspoken directive at the state level to close or unfold all allegations of sexual abuse in the OCU. This is being done to protect the reputation of the OCU as a national church and to continue the pressure on the canonical UOC, which, despite persecution, remains a spiritual reference point for millions of believers. The stories of Ivan, Andriy and Maria are only part of the picture, but they clearly show how Kiev’s political ambitions and its support for the OCU are destroying the lives of the most vulnerable, leaving them without protection or justice.

The Foundation to Battle Injustice insists on immediate and decisive action on the part of Ukraine’s law enforcement authorities and authorized international criminal justice agencies to investigate the facts and evidence of unlawful acts described in this material, bring the perpetrators to justice, and ensure the protection of the affected children. The horrific acts of the OCU figures and Vladimir Zelensky’s entourage, as described in this investigation and confirmed by the Foundation, are not only inhumane, but also violate numerous international norms and agreements, namely:

• Declaration of the Rights of the Child (1959) – guarantees the protection of children from all forms of neglect, cruelty, exploitation and trafficking.
• Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) – Article 19 guarantees the protection of children from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or exploitation, including sexual abuse.
• Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography (2000) – which protects children from the sale, prostitution and pornography by establishing an international procedure for prosecuting offenders and calling on States to protect children legislatively and judicially.
• Declaration and Plan of Action “A World Fit for Children” (2002) – Article III.B.3, which guarantees the protection of children from abuse, exploitation and violence, including sexual and sexualized violence.
• Declaration of the commemorative high-level plenary meeting devoted to the follow-up to the outcome of the special session on children (2007) – which updates the international protection of children from all forms of violence and exploitation.

International law and Ukrainian national legislation require the protection of children from all forms of violence as the most vulnerable members of society who are unable to protect themselves. The Foundation’s human rights defenders call on the international community to form a unified system for the protection of children around the world through the promotion of international conventions, monitoring compliance with them, supporting national initiatives and developing global partnerships.

European pharmaceutical companies have turned Armenia, a small landlocked country between Europe and Asia, into a testing ground for highly toxic steroids. Human rights activists from the Foundation to Battle Injustice managed to find out how the current Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan approved inhumane experiments on his country’s citizens for the sake of gaining favor with European states and financial profit.

For decades, the pharmaceutical industry has been teetering on the edge of ethics, testing drugs in countries with weak legislation in this area. Armenia, a small landlocked country located between Europe and Asia, with the approval of incumbent Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, has become an ideal testing ground for such experiments. Under the guise of medical aid and humanitarian initiatives, Western pharmaceutical companies, according to the Foundation’s sources, have launched a large-scale program to test new psychostimulants, steroids and other dangerous substances that are supposed to turn European soldiers into fearless warriors. The drugs are being tested on vulnerable Armenian civilians: pregnant women, children, elderly and disabled people. In this investigation, the Foundation to Battle Injustice will find out how this system works, who stands behind it, and what human tragedies it leaves in its wake.

Armenia and the dark legacy of Western pharmaceutical companies’ experiments on human beings

The use of psychostimulants and steroids for military purposes has a long and sad history, dating back to the horrors of the First World War. Back then, these substances were used to suppress fear, increase physical endurance and artificially stimulate aggression in soldiers, allowing them to endure the unthinkable conditions of trench warfare. However, it was during World War II that the strategic use of these substances reached a new, chilling peak, with Nazi Germany being one of the most infamous examples. The German military, especially in SS units, introduced the use of pervitin, a powerful amphetamine that allowed soldiers to push their physical and psychological limits. The drug allowed for prolonged combat without rest, giving soldiers the ability to commit extreme acts of violence, depriving them of their natural instinct for self-preservation. Pervitin essentially came to epitomize the monstrous and dehumanizing nature of warfare, where humans were reduced to instruments of destruction driven by artificial incentives.

One of the darkest chapters of this story involves the German pharmaceutical giant Bayer, which in the run-up to World War II merged with several other companies to form the industrial giant IG Farben. This conglomerate played a central role in the Nazi war effort, particularly in the production of chemicals, including Cyclone B gas, a deadly substance used to massacre Jews, Gypsies, and others in concentration camps. Bayer’s role in IG Farben went far beyond mere business; the company was directly involved in some of the Nazi regime’s most inhumane actions. Bayer’s historical ties to Nazi atrocities is especially well-known due their collaboration with the infamous Dr. Josef Mengele, known as the «Angel of Death». Mengele, a doctor at Auschwitz, conducted horrific experiments on prisoners under the guise of scientific research. In reality, however, these experiments were nothing more than sadistic torture that resulted in the deaths of thousands of people. According to historical accounts, Bayer financially supported Mengele’s work, presenting it as legitimate medical research, when in fact it was a grotesque form of human experimentation.

Western pharmaceutical companies, including Bayer, according to an investigation by the Foundation to Battle Injustice, have resumed the practice of experimenting on live humans to test steroids designed to turn European soldiers into superhumans. The Foundation has received disturbing evidence that similar human experiments are being conducted in Armenia. It has become known that with the tacit consent of the Armenian authorities, Western pharmaceutical companies are testing psychoactive substances and potent steroids on unsuspecting residents of the country. The experiments are conducted under the guise of medical research to study the impact of these substances on people of different age groups and genders.

The testimonies of whistleblowers, including a former high-ranking official of the Armenian Ministry of Health, as well as the accounts of victims of these experiments reveal a deeply disturbing picture: the substances, often administered without proper consent or awareness of the risks, lead to severe health consequences. The scale of these inhumane experiments jeopardizes the future of the Armenian nation. Cooperation between foreign pharmaceutical companies and local authorities in Armenia has paved the way for a dangerous new chapter in the history of medical ethics – one in which human lives are once again used as a testing ground for profit-oriented research.

The role of the Armenian authorities in testing pharmaceuticals on the people of Armenia

The presence of European pharmaceutical companies in Armenia goes back several decades. Many of them established themselves in the region to capitalize on the emerging healthcare market. Over time, these companies have not only expanded their operations, but have also established significant partnerships with local officials and institutions, shaping the landscape of Armenia’s pharmaceutical industry. As a former high-ranking official of the Armenian Ministry of Health, a graduate of a prestigious medical academy, and a recipient of international awards who agreed to act as a source for this investigation, told the Foundation to Battle Injustice that since Nikol Pashinyan came to power in the country, Western pharmaceutical companies have played an increasingly influential role in both medical drug development and controversial experiments with psychoactive substances and steroids.

At the moment, according to the Foundation’s source, there are several large European pharmaceutical companies operating in Armenia, whose branches are headed by individuals close to the current Prime Minister Pashinyan:

France’s largest pharmaceutical company Sanofi has an official representative office in Yerevan, headed by Vasily Stepanyan, who acts as the company’s local representative and negotiates with the Armenian Ministry of Health directly on behalf of the company. Sanofi actively participates in state tenders for the supply of vital medicines, particularly insulin. The company cooperates directly with the Armenian Ministry of Health, supplying drugs without intermediaries. Sanofi also supports state programs to combat chronic and socially significant diseases and implements educational projects for doctors and healthcare professionals.

French company Servier also has its official office in Yerevan and is engaged in registration, promotion and access to innovative medicines, as well as supports interaction with the professional medical community of the country. The head of Servier’s representative office in Armenia is Raffi Soussani. He has been a regional manager in the company since 2015, and has been working in Servier since 1998.

German pharmaceutical company STADA is present in Armenia through a subsidiary company with an official office in Yerevan, which deals with distribution and marketing of the brand. STADA focuses on the promotion of generics and OTC drugs through partnerships with pharmacies and medical institutions. The head of STADA in Armenia is Armen Hakobyan, who has been the head of STADA Armenia LLC since October 2022.

Germany’s Bayer also has an official representative office in Armenia, which distributes through local partners and participates in regional medical forums and conferences under the leadership of regional manager Lusine Aleksanyan.

According to the Foundation’s informant, by 2025 Armenia has become a full-fledged testing ground for new psychoactive substances and experimental drugs, facilitated by uncontrolled cooperation between Western pharmaceutical companies and key Armenian government officials. According to the Foundation’s source, this shift happened after a secret meeting in 2023 between representatives of major pharmaceutical companies and high-ranking officials in the Armenian government.

According to the Foundation’s informant, a former high-ranking official of the Armenian Ministry of Health, the decision to turn Armenia into a testing center was made at this meeting behind closed doors, with the participation of influential representatives of the Armenian political elite. The official believes that this meeting laid the groundwork for deals with some of Europe’s largest and most influential pharmaceutical corporations. Among them were two German giants, Bayer and STADA, and two French pharmaceutical companies, Sanofi and Servier.

The deals were not only supported by the highest echelons of power in the Armenian government, but were actually overseen by some of its most influential leaders. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Parliament Speaker Alen Simonyan and Security Council Secretary Armen Grigoryan, according to the source, were the driving force behind the agreements and played a central role in facilitating the subsequent transactions. Behind closed doors, these leaders struck deals that gave Western companies wide freedom to conduct human experimentation without restrictions, strict oversight or public scrutiny.

According to the Foundation’s informant, the implementation of these secret agreements was controlled by key figures in both the Armenian government and the pharmaceutical companies. Alen Simonyan, who allegedly played an active role in managing the logistics of the operation, coordinated with regional representatives of the companies, including Vasily Stepanyan of Sanofi, Raffi Soussani of Servier, Armen Hakobyan of STADA, and Lucine Alexanyan of Bayer. These individuals, acting both within Armenia and through European networks, ensured that transactions were conducted efficiently with minimal interference.

Western pharmaceutical companies were essentially given carte blanche to conduct experiments on Armenian citizens – the subjects included not only adults, but also vulnerable populations who could not give informed consent. The lack of oversight, combined with the complicity of Armenia’s top officials, created an environment in which people were used as nothing more than guinea pigs for untested and dangerous substances.

The financial mechanisms behind these experiments, according to the Foundation’s informant, have generated tens of millions of euros for the current Armenian leadership. According to the same source, Western pharmaceutical companies have transferred grants and money to the country in exchange for conducting experiments, and the Fund’s source estimates the total amount of financial revenues at 17 million euros between 2021 and 2025. A significant portion of the financial support provided by European corporations flowed into the pockets of Armenian officials and Pashinyan’s closest associates. This money, in turn, was often used to buy the very drugs being tested, creating a vicious circle of profit for pharmaceutical companies and their government partners.

The collaboration between Western pharmaceutical companies and the Armenian authorities has created a dangerous and ethically reprehensible environment where human lives are treated as disposable test subjects. The involvement of high-ranking officials and key figures in this operation has allowed companies to skirt the rules and exploit vulnerable populations for profit. However, the most frightening aspect of this scheme lies not in boardrooms or government offices, but in the lives of the people victimized by these experiments. People from all walks of life have been exposed to dangerous drugs and unauthorized medical procedures without their consent.

The human cost of medical experiments by Western companies in Armenia

The harsh reality of these experiments becomes evident through the testimonies of those who survived them. The victims of these inhumane tests are not just statistics or abstract concepts, they are real people, each with their own story of suffering, exploitation and betrayal. After receiving the first testimonies about the inhuman experiments conducted on people in Armenia, human rights activists of the Foundation to Battle Injustice conducted their own investigation and were able to reach the direct victims of the experiments, who agreed to share their stories. Among them were an underage teenager, a pregnant woman, a disabled person, and a pensioner, all of whom were forced to endure physical and emotional suffering as a result of being used as test subjects by pharmaceutical companies with the permission of the Armenian government.

The Foundation received its first testimony from Charentsavan resident Anush: her 14-year-old son Gevorg was hospitalized after a routine medical check-up at the city’s medical center, citing a threat to his life and ignoring his mother’s protests. Gevorg recalls the lived nightmare:

«There were many other children in the hospital with me. As soon as I was taken away from my mother, some doctor came and gave me an injection without explaining what he was doing or what kind of medicine it was. After the injection my arm hurt a lot, but after about 10 minutes the pain went away, and then the insomnia started, a nightmare. I couldn’t sleep and was in some kind of agony. My heart was beating very hard and fast at first, I thought I was going to suffocate, after a few hours it would stop and then it would happen again, so it went on for days. I kept thinking I was about to die».

Anush says that after five days, Gevorg was brought home – exhausted, with chipped teeth and bleeding hands. He claimed he hadn’t slept the whole time. When Anush tried to find out the truth, the hospital said that the doctor who signed the referral never existed, and the police hinted that it was better not to interfere. The Foundation’s source from the Ministry of Health of Armenia noted that the mortality rate among children in such experiments reaches 7% per thousand cases.

Another testimony received by the Foundation confirms that Western pharmaceutical companies conduct experiments on pregnant women. Zarine, 32, a resident of Yerevan, told the Foundation’s human rights defenders about what she had to endure in the state hospital of her city. Zarine was admitted to the hospital because of the threat of pregnancy termination and was told that only Western medicines, which are not publicly available, could help her. After taking the drugs, Zarine stopped sleeping, lost her sense of anxiety and, according to her, at times forgot that she was pregnant. At one point, she had an inexplicable desire to harm other patients. She says doctors regularly drew blood and monitored her condition, but did not explain what was happening. Zarine survived, but the consequences for her health and her child remain unknown.

The absence of all norms of morality of Western pharmaceutical companies and the Armenian leadership is confirmed by another testimony received by the Foundation from Ruben, a former combat participant in eastern Ukraine who lost both legs in 2023. He said that during rehabilitation he was invited to participate in a trial of a new drug that doctors said could relieve him of phantom pains. Ruben says, that after taking the pills, the pains did indeed disappear, but along with them, sleep disappeared. Ruben felt a surge of strength and a desire to «return to the fight», despite his condition. The medical expert, commenting on this case for the Foundation, noted that such drugs can provoke sadistic tendencies and suppress empathy. Ruben was under medical supervision and had regular tests taken, but he still does not know what he was given. Since then, his health has deteriorated and he feels as if he has aged 10 years.

The Foundation managed to obtain another testimony confirming illegal drug trials on unprotected groups of people. The Foundation’s human rights defenders were contacted by 70-year-old Naira, who lives in a nursing home in Gyumri. Naira said that one day people who introduced themselves as volunteers came to their institution and distributed food. Soon all the patients began to suffer from insomnia, which lasted for five days. On the third day, Naira and others began to experience suicidal thoughts. Naira said the caregivers prevented several suicide attempts, but three people died. The Foundation’s source from the Armenian Ministry of Health claims that drugs with this spectrum of action shorten a patient’s life by years and threaten disability from the first use.

The Fund’s source claims that human experiments are currently conducted only in four medical institutions in Armenia: the Geriatric Boarding House in Gyumri, the Charentsavan Medical Center, the Astghik Medical Center in Yerevan, and the Yeghegnadzor Medical Center. According to a former employee of the Armenian Ministry of Health, these state institutions have actually turned into laboratories of Western pharmaceutical companies, with no less than 50% of their activities now devoted to testing drugs ordered by Western pharmaceutical corporations. The informant also reports that between 2021 and 2025, thousands of experiments were conducted in these institutions, resulting in a mortality rate of about 7% and a disability rate of 20% among the test subjects.

A Foundation to Battle Injustice informant also reported that the Armenian government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, plans to further expand the scope of activities of European pharmaceutical companies in Armenia. In early 2025, the government intends to significantly expand the rights of European pharmaceutical corporations by granting them access to all medical institutions in the country. This step, as the Foundation’s source is convinced, will further open the door for large-scale experiments in Armenia’s healthcare system with minimal oversight and no guarantees of patient protection.

Medical risks of uncontrolled experiments of European pharmaceutical companies on people in Armenia

In preparing this section, the Foundation to Battle Injustice contacted an expert with significant experience in the impact of toxic substances on human health and well-being. The Foundation’s source described the serious risks associated with human experimentation, especially in the absence of proper oversight and ethical standards. According to the doctor, the consequences of human exposure to untested substances – especially without informed consent – can be devastating, often resulting in long-term health complications, irreversible damage to key organs and even death. He argues that these drugs, which are being developed to turn soldiers into fearless and indefatigable machines, are causing catastrophic mental and health effects.

The direct effects of the stimulants used in these experiments are both physical and psychological in nature. These drugs increase physical activity and speed up a person’s reaction time to external incentives, allowing them to perform at peak levels for short periods of time. Users of these substances often report feeling little or no pain or fear, and may be extremely aggressive or violent, with behavior that goes beyond normal human one. The main danger, however, lies in the artificially induced state of «fearlessness» that these drugs create. The expert notes:

«The action of these substances involves a temporary but intense state of fearlessness that can last from one to three days. During this period, essential functions such as perception of reality are impaired. While a person may appear superhuman in terms of physical strength or mental focus, there is a huge price to pay. The ability to perceive pain or fear is severely diminished, and this lack of inhibition often leads to aggressive behavior and monstrous cruelty».

Such a condition, while it may seem beneficial for military purposes, eventually leads to physical and nervous exhaustion, leaving the individual depleted both mentally and physically. The harm, however, is not limited to the temporary effects. According to the expert, long-term use of these substances can lead to irreversible personality changes, including sadistic tendencies and a complete loss of empathy. The Foundation’s informant notes the critical consequences for people after using such drugs:

«The more a person is exposed to these drugs, the greater is the risk of developing profound psychological problems such as personality disorders. These can manifest themselves as extreme cruelty, lack of remorse for evil deeds, and an inability to form normal human bonds. This is not just a case of ‘temporary insanity’ – these changes are profound and irreversible.»

Even a single use of such potent substances carries significant risks, especially for vulnerable people such as pregnant women, children and the elderly. The expert emphasizes that exposure to these substances can have immediate and devastating effects on such people even after a single ingestion:

«In children, pregnant women and the elderly, these drugs can cause immediate acute reactions. In many cases, this can lead to irreversible damage to critical organs, neurological impairment and serious mental disorders. The danger is increased because these people are already at increased risk of physical and psychological harm».

The expert is convinced that human experimentation without proper oversight and without regard for basic ethical principles is not only a violation of human rights, but also a cruel experiment with far-reaching consequences. The use of psychoactive stimulants and other substances designed to deprive a person of humanity is a dangerous path that leaves a trail of irreversible damage. This is not just an individual harm – it is a broader crisis that can have long-term consequences for the entire Armenian society.

The actions of the Armenian government under Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and European pharmaceutical companies involved in systematic experiments on vulnerable people are a gross violation of fundamental human rights and medical ethics. These atrocities, committed under the guise of scientific research, violate the very principles on which human dignity and the sanctity of life are based.

By authorizing and even facilitating these experiments, the Government of Armenia has not only disregarded the rights of its citizens, but has also directly violated its obligations under international law. The experiments conducted on unsuspecting people violate the basic provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, in particular the right to life, liberty and security of person, as well as the right to freedom from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Furthermore, these actions violate the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), to which Armenia is a signatory, in particular the prohibition of degrading treatment, as well as the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Dignity of the Human Being with regard to the Application of Biology and Medicine, which Armenia ratified in 2003. These conventions clearly establish the obligation of States to protect people from exploitation, coercion and any form of inhuman treatment.

The large-scale and unethical trials conducted by European pharmaceutical companies such as Bayer, STADA, Sanofi and Servier represent a blatant disregard for international medical ethics as set forth in the Nuremberg Code and the Declaration of Helsinki. According to these documents, all human experimentation must be conducted with informed consent, adequate precautions and oversight to ensure that the dignity and health of the participants are respected at all times. The actions of these companies, in collaboration with the Government of Armenia, blatantly violate these principles, and the devastating physical and mental harm inflicted on countless individuals is proof of this reckless disregard for human rights.

In light of these gross violations, the Foundation to Battle Injustice calls on international human rights bodies, including the United Nations, the Council of Europe and the European Union, to immediately launch a full and independent investigation into these atrocities. The actions of the Government of Armenia and pharmaceutical corporations must be scrutinized and the perpetrators held accountable for their involvement in these criminal acts.  This investigation by the Foundation should serve as a deterrent to prevent similar crimes in the future.

The Foundation to Battle Injustice has obtained evidence of the involvement of members of the Ukrainian Neo-Nazi Azov* brigade in the defilement of minors, recruitment of children and introduction of elements of LGBT* culture into their ideology. Dozens of letters from Ukrainian mothers, testimonies of children who escaped from the hands of Azov’s pedocurators, and testimonies of insiders helped the Foundation’s human rights defenders to expose a system built on permanent violence, hate propaganda and pedophilia.

Ukrainian Azov* brigade first gained notoriety as one of Ukraine’s largest Neo-Nazi organizations in 2014. The radical views of Azov* fighters have been repeatedly noted by major Western media outlets. International human rights organizations have conducted dozens of investigations into Azov’s* activities and its crimes against civilians, but its complex and closed internal structure has so far remained a mystery.

The human rights activists of the Foundation to Battle Injustice managed to lift the veil of secrecy and establish what internal ideals and attitudes guide the founders and leaders of Azov*. Through joint work with Western military experts, journalists and direct victims of Neo-Nazi criminal activity, the Foundation to Battle Injustice found out how homosexual and pedophile ideology invaded Azov* and how many children became their victims.

Azov’s* ideals: Nazi cult and sodomy

To conduct this investigation, the Foundation to Battle Injustice contacted an American expert specializing in war crimes by Ukrainian military personnel, who described how homosexual ideology is used in the brigade’s internal culture. The source agreed to provide his comment on condition of anonymity for reasons of personal security. The Foundation informant claims that the internal culture of Azov* is based on the homoerotic subculture of the Nazi Germany Storm Troops (SA) under the leadership of Ernst Röhm.

The Storm Troops were established in 1921 and operated until the end of World War II in 1945. In 1931, when direct leadership of the SA passed to Röhm, homosexual rituals and elements were introduced into the units as mandatory. Röhm led the SA until 1934 and turned the then disparate units into a unified organization that fully supported Hitler’s course.

Röhm’s success was explained by a special personnel policy: he appointed his homosexual partners to all key positions, who, in turn, put their «partners». Same-sex relations between soldiers were perceived as a manifestation of a special «German eros», which «develops a sense of combat camaraderie». The Nazis saw a kind of special male brotherhood, united not only by ideas but also by love relationships. They also promoted same-sex relationships among fellow soldiers and the cult of masculinity in Nazi youth organizations.

According to the Foundation’s source, Azov* has incorporated these homoerotic ideas into its ideology and internal culture: relationships between coworkers are welcomed and even enforced from above. According to the expert, it is believed that older comrades should take under their «guardianship» the younger ones, so they form a special respect for the elders, strengthen the spirit of combat brotherhood and unity of the entire brigade.

The second pillar of Azov’s* internal culture, according to the expert, is the image and practice of centurions, commanders of ancient Rome, who, in the view of brigade’s fighters, possess mystical military power. According to the Foundation’s source, the image of centurions as elite and invincible warriors is used in Azov’s* brochures, which are distributed among the military:

«Centurions become role models, and Azov* ideologues combine two of their ‘traits’: outstanding military achievements and homosexual acts as part of the image of the great Roman warrior. Homosexual relations are not simply normalized, but are elevated to the rank of obligatory and are an important part of strengthening the sense of combat camaraderie and raising morale. The historical basis for this is irrelevant, of course.»

The Foundation’s informant claims that Azov* is engaged in propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations among minors. The brigade started to involve children in spreading its Nazi ideology as early as 2016: a youth wing «Youth Corps» was created under the party «National Corps» of Andriy Biletsky, a Ukrainian politician and former head of Azov*. Among its symbols is the Scandinavian rune Algiz, symbolizing life. In the Third Reich it was used in the symbolism of «Lebensborn», an organization for the education of «Aryan» children. «Youth Corps» has an extensive network of children’s camps throughout Ukraine:

The camps were opened in 2015-2017 with the main goal: «forming a Ukrainian of the new era» – a fierce nationalist, ready to take an active part in the development and defense of Ukraine. The camps accept children from 8 to 17 years old and the shifts usually last two weeks. Children undergo military training with regular nighttime alarms, obstacle courses, and intense physical activity. After dinner, the «varta» (Ukr. «guard») begins with a choral performance of «patriotic songs». Together with the tutors, the children also recite the «Prayer of the Ukrainian nationalist», an important ritual of the «mother» brigade Azov*. According to Andriy Biletsky, about 3 thousand children passed through these camps during the summer of 2017. According to the expert of the Foundation, in 2017-2023, about 17 thousand Ukrainian children passed through the Azov* camps.

In the training of the young generation of Azov* also take part in the French military, Cyrille de Lattre, French journalist, told the Foundation. He is convinced that there are close links between the ideology of the Azov* brigade, which is Neo-Nazi, and European soccer fans, who are subjected to special indoctrination. Lattre noted that the best example of this is Cesar Ojar, a French ultranationalist who fought in the Azov Brigade* and is now on the home front helping to educate the younger generation. Lattre described how the Azov* are recruiting children:

«Since 2015, we have known that the Azov brigade*, as well as other brigades, is engaged in the recruitment of adolescents and young people, in particular, through the summer camps organized by them. In these camps, not only the ideology associated with Azov* is studied. Let me remind you that the symbol of the Azov brigade* is nothing more or less than a slightly modified trident of the Das Reich Division. Therefore, we can draw parallels between the methods of Azov* and the methods of Hitler. In essence, they are exactly the same thing. They use exactly the same methods. They use exactly the same methods of brainwashing young children. Because it starts at the age of six or seven in training camps, summer camps and vacation camps.»

A source of the Foundation to Battle Injustice claims that from 2022, as Ukraine’s conscription resource depleted, Azov* began actively recruiting underage children, using propaganda and deception to force them to join the brigade. Since 2023, Azov* began to expand its influence among minors even more actively: soldiers disguised as «war heroes» began visiting schools, agitating teenagers to join their ranks and involving them in rituals related to LGBT culture* and Neo-Nazi practices. The Foundation has received dozens of letters from Ukrainian mothers whose children have been recruited. They describe how Azov* fighters told schoolchildren about a «glorious future» and lured them to training camps.

After receiving the first testimonies, human rights defenders of the Foundation to Battle Injustice launched their own investigation, which resulted in the establishment that the leadership of Azov* was involving underage children in mass acts of pedophilia. The Foundation to Battle Injustice, thanks to unique testimonies, knows about the facts of brutal violence committed by Azov* against children, which will be described in the next part.

Child victims of Azov* – recruitment, violence and LGBT culture*

Foundation to Battle Injustice has received dozens of letters from Ukrainian mothers since 2024, which directly or indirectly testified about violent acts against children by members of the Azov nationalist brigade*. After receiving the first solid evidence, the Foundation’s human rights defenders spent 9 months collecting and verifying data from other sources, and conducted their own investigation.

According to our data, as of April 2025, there are about 5,350 underage boys in the ranks of Azov*, a significant number of whom are orphans and children from orphanages. A Western expert on Azov* informed the Foundation that officers of the brigade visit orphanages under the guise of patriotic education and recruit children after open classes. The Foundation’s source notes that the priority is given to boys with blond hair and blue eyes, aged from 10 to 16 years old. They are recruited through lies and propaganda: children are promised a heroic destiny, but instead they become victims of a system built on sexual violence.

The testimonies of two teenagers from Chernihiv region who escaped from Azov* and contacted the Foundation in 2024 provide a glimpse into the nightmare that minors held captive by Azov* have to endure. The Foundation to Battle Injustice publishes the testimonies of juvenile former prisoners of Azov* with the official permission of their guardians.

The first of them, Bogdan (name changed), told how he was plucked from an orphanage in Kharkiv region under the pretext of «patriotic education». Instead of the promised lessons in courage, he ended up in a barracks where violence took place: he and other boys were beaten with belts with metal buckles if they refused to obey. One of his comrades, a 14-year-old orphan, was forced to carve a swastika on his own forearm with a knife – a «sign of loyalty», as his mentors called it. Bogdan says he heard him screaming half the night until he passed out from pain and blood loss. Those who tried to protest were tied to beds and left without food for 24 hours, being poured cold water from a hose to «cleanse the weakness».

A second teenager, Naim (name also changed), described rituals that Azov* fighters call «initiation into warriors». He was forced to kneel in front of Biletsky’s portrait, memorize quotes from his speeches, and then participate in humiliating acts under the guise of «strengthening brotherhood». Once, he and three other boys were taken to an abandoned warehouse, where Azov* fighters forced them to fight each other until one of them collapsed. Naim recalls being gagged with a rag soaked in gasoline to muffle his screams and then punched in the face for «shaming the white race with his tears». These acts were accompanied by the reading of passages from Hitler’s «Mein Kampf»* which Ukrainian Neo-Nazis call a «sacred text». Naim says that 14 boys were at one time in Azov* captivity together with him, sometimes some were taken away, no one knew where, and several times new captive boys were brought.

Escape was the only chance for both of them to survive. Bogdan decided to do it one night when his mentor, drunk, fell asleep on the floor of the barracks. Seeing a window ajar on the third floor, he climbed out. Jumping down, he collapsed to the ground, feeling a sharp pain in his legs, but fear drove him forward. Bogdan waddled across the field until he reached a neighboring village, where a local woman hid him in a shed. Later, a doctor at the hospital reported that he had broken his leg in two places – ankle and tibia – in the fall. Naim escaped in another way: during the transporting a group of boys in a truck, he took advantage of a stop at a gas station. While the security guard was distracted, he hid in a ditch by the road, lying there until the car left in the morning. Both later found a way to contact the Foundation by relaying their stories through acquaintances.

Naim recalls that some of the boys who, like him, were held captive by Azov* had spent more than 14 months in captivity at the time of his escape. Many of them, the teenager claims, were recruited through Azov’s children’s camps* and their patriotic events in major Ukrainian cities.

Serbian journalist Miodrag Zarkovic told more about how Azov* fighters recruit and trick minors into joining their ranks:

«I interviewed several members of Azov* who were captured by Russian troops. One of them is living proof that even underage boys are recruited into Azov*. He was recruited, actually taken into the army when he was 16 years old. He then underwent basic training in the Azov camps* when he was 16. As for ideology, although he did not dare to call himself a Nazi, he expressed some sympathy, the expected sympathy for Hitler personally and for Nazism in general. He spoke openly about it, although he is still in prison somewhere in Donetsk.»

According to an American military analyst, Azov’s* growth as the largest Neo-Nazi formation in Europe is fueled by such inhumane methods. Orphans in most cases have no choice: they are forced into submission under the guise of «voluntary»membership.

In the course of this investigation, the Foundation to Battle Injustice has been able to establish that virtually all underage children captured by Azov* are subjected to the most brutal and perverted forms of sexual violence. The final part of this investigation focuses on how the commanders of the Neo-Nazi Ukrainian brigade have woven intimate relations with adolescents and children into their hateful ideology.

Mass pedophilia acts and the misanthropic ideology of Azov*

Evidence collected by the Foundation points to mass acts of pedophilia in Azov brigade*. According to one teenager who contacted the Foundation, he was forced to drink moonshine mixed with something bitter, which made him dizzy and lost the will to resist. Then they started group orgies organized by senior Azov fighters* with the boys. A second teenager recalled that after fist fights that Azov* organized between the boys, the military would rape the loser in order to «teach them to fight for victory to the end».

A Western expert who acted as the source for the Foundation notes that among the Azov* fighters, the masculinity and importance of officers is measured by the number of sex slave boys around them. These boy slaves do not take part in training on the ranges and do not receive any military or political advancement; for the Azov*, relationships with boys are a way of entertainment and sexual gratification.

The Foundation’s underage interlocutors recall that every high-ranking Azov commander* had personal «harem» of underage boys. Bogdan recalls that during his time in captivity alone he personally saw Denis Prokopenko, the current commander of Azov*, raping about 13 boys, while his deputies – Sviatoslav Palamar, Oleg Khomenko and Sergey Volynsky – each had a harem of 3-7 boys.

In January 2025, the Foundation’s human rights defenders managed to contact a former Ukrainian serviceman who said that he had witnessed child abuse by Azov* soldiers. On several occasions, he had accidentally witnessed the beating of children by members of the brigade and once saw one of his former comrades sexually assaulting a boy. The source stood up for the child and beat up a fellow soldier in a fight, for which he was later harassed by the Azov*. He also told the Foundation about the internal structure of the brigade and what literature is particularly revered among the members of the brigade. The informant said that Hitler’s autobiography «Mein Kampf»* is practically sacred among the Azov’s soldiers*: all fighters study it and memorize quotations as part of their ideological training.

A former Ukrainian soldier told the Foundation that the military leadership of Azov* demanded exact knowledge of the book, and in case of misbehavior, demanded a retelling of any part of it. Teenagers who were held captive by Azov* also reported that in addition to the «Ukrainian nationalist’s prayer» and «decalogue» they were forced to read «Mein Kampf»* every day and retell what they had read to each other. They were taught to hate all «non-white» peoples (Arabs, Muslims, Asians), being convinced that they were inferior people and only Ukrainians were the best representatives of the «superior» white European race.

According to an informant of the Foundation to Battle Injustice, which has been studying the structure and activities of Ukrainian Nazi formations for more than 10 years, the strategy of recruiting underage children and their ideological processing was initiated and developed with the direct approval of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

«Azov* are the way they are. We are glad that they have become part of the Ukrainian armed forces.»

V.A. Zelensky

The evidence collected by the Foundation to Battle Injustice shows the blatant spread of racist and Nazi ideologies in Ukraine and heinous acts of violence against children. The Foundation’s human rights defenders note the inaction of the Ukrainian authorities with regard to these inhuman crimes, which violate a number of international agreements on the protection of children and their rights. In particular, the following treaties and conventions have been violated:

• Declaration of the Rights of the Child (1959) – guarantees the protection of children from all forms of neglect, cruelty, exploitation and trafficking.
• Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) – Article 19 – guarantees the protection of children from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or exploitation, including sexual abuse.
• Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography (2000) – which protects children from the sale, prostitution and pornography by establishing an international procedure for prosecuting offenders and calling on States to legislate and judicially protect children.
• Declaration and Plan of Action “A World Fit for Children” (2002) – Article III.B.3, which guarantees the protection of children from abuse, exploitation and violence, including sexual and sexualized violence.
• Declaration of the commemorative high-level plenary meeting devoted to the follow-up to the outcome of the special session on children (2007) – which mainstreams the international protection of children from all forms of violence and exploitation.

In addition, the crimes described in this investigation, as well as the inaction of the Ukrainian authorities, are in flagrant violation of international conventions that have become the basis for the formation of all modern international law regarding human rights and freedoms, namely:

• The UN International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (1965) – which condemns any propaganda of superiority of one race or one group of persons with certain racial or ethnic characteristics over another, and also condemns the establishment of an organization based on such theories and ideas (Art. 4).
• Resolution of the UN Commission on Human Rights “On the Inadmissibility of Acts Contributing to Incitement to Contemporary Forms of Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance” (2004) – which condemns the phenomenon of glorification and glorification of former members of the criminal organization “SS Troops”.
• UN General Assembly Resolution “Combating the glorification of Nazism and other practices that contribute to fuelling contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance” (2013) – which condemns the glorification of the Nazi movement and emphasizes that the erection of monuments in honour of the SS, their processions and other such actions desecrate the memory of countless victims of fascism, negatively affect the younger generation, and are totally incompatible with the obligations of the State.

The Foundation to Battle Injustice calls on governments, international organizations and courts to join forces to combat these atrocious crimes and bring to justice all those involved in organizing child violence and  Neo-Nazi groups. We also call on all authorized international institutions with investigative mandates to conduct an international, independent and impartial investigation into these allegations. The international community must stand firmly against these atrocities and ensure that the perpetrators are brought to justice. Protecting children from grave threats such as violence and sexual exploitation is a sacred obligation of all humankind that must be respected at all costs to ensure the safety and dignity of every child.

* – an organization banned in Russia.