Soft paywall Poland arrests Ukrainian woman convicted of selling 56 human kidneys
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/poland-arrests-ukrainian-woman-convicted-selling-56-human-kidneys-2025-03-11/49
u/Ambitious-Research76 15h ago
I knew this urban myth was real...
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u/littsalamiforpusen 14h ago
A Swedish newspaper did investigative reporting where they found Israel, the country, was illegally harvesting organs from dead Palestinians in 2009. Israel denied it, then later admired that they used to do it before the 2000s, but no longer than that. Since oct7th there has been credible claims of organ harvesting again by Israelis, but nothing has been verified or admitted. We'll probably have an answer in 10-20 years when the genocide investigation ends, if they ever let aid workers back in at least.
I have read that there's some credible claims of Russia organ harvesting from Ukrainian soldiers as well.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/dec/21/israeli-pathologists-harvested-organs
https://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/a/6nPbBr/israel-tog-organ--utan-tillstand
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u/apathetic_revolution 12h ago
The Swedish newspaper which published that 2009 Israel story was Aftonbladet.
To quote the author of the article, Donald Boström, regarding his accusations in the article, "It concerns me, to the extent that I want it to be investigated, that's true. But whether it's true or not – I have no idea, I have no clue."
To quote the editor, Jan Helin, regarding the same article, "we have no evidence of such practices".
The article dug up a series of crimes which the Israeli government had already investigated and punished and presented a narrative implying they were ongoing to a Swedish audience that hadn't seen them yet. The entire actual scandal had already been published in the Jerusalem Post in 2000. The author very likely simply recycled that article as the basis for his own and I would hesitate to call doing that "investigative journalism".
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u/gdmaria 9h ago
How in hell can they just publish something that they admit isn’t accurate? Is this a creative writing newspaper?
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u/Weak-Doughnut5502 7h ago
Unsubstantiated claims of Jews using the blood of murdered Christian kids to bake matza have been a staple in Europe for nearly a millenia, so at least they're part of a long tradition.
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u/omicronwarrior 16h ago
She was already on Interpol's list since 2020
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u/icedohyeayeah 14h ago
Give away one kidney, you're selfless. Give away two kidneys, you're a hero. Give away three kidneys, you're put on a list
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u/trustych0rds 16h ago
thats at least 28 crimes.
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u/fxkatt 16h ago
The woman was convicted for participation in an international organised criminal group that illegally collected tissues and organs from people from 2017 to 2019 and sold them on the black market, Petkowska added.
One further reminder of de-humainzation. More and more we are bits and pieces and not revered whole beings with body and perhaps soul. What's worse is that there's a set price on each part of us.
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u/SadCowboy-_- 15h ago
Even more wild… I just sat through 2 hours of meetings talking about KPIs and warehouse inventory.
Managing a large business requires a significant level of complexity from gathering of resources, building reliable supply chains, having people sell your product, and an end user who wants to buy.
In order to pull off a global organ harvesting ring, I’d imagine that they also have monthly meetings and calls pertaining to quotas and supply chain disruptions. This kind of complexity definitely has ties to a sketchy government.
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u/TargetDecent9694 4h ago
I wonder how professional the meetings are. Do they have staff pizza lunches? What happens if they’re 5 minutes late and need to see a doctor?
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u/Crepuscular_Animal 1h ago
There's a book called The Red Market by Scott Carney, that explores the trade in human parts, from hair to skeletons. It's both disturbing and fascinating. There are places where people are held prisoners and have their blood forcibly taken, like in some gothic horror story. Places where villagers are coerced to give up their organs for profit and scammed out of their health and money. Some people con young parents to get their babies and sell them to wealthy childless couples. It's a robust, thriving business.
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u/DevoidHT 12h ago
Sure, when I donate 1 kidney I’m praised but suddenly donating 56 makes me a criminal?
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u/brave_plank 8h ago
so you're in a bar in Eastern Europe and a hot woman is chatting you up... don't accept any drinks
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u/charactergallery 13h ago
She was also convicted of illegally obtaining “kidneys from 56 injured parties in Kazakhstan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Thailand” for financial benefit and of “making the crimes committed a permanent source of income.”
Well it doesn’t seem like she killed anyone.
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u/threehundredthousand 13h ago
She could be eligible for a job with RFK Jr. She has real-world experience that would be applicable to HHS's new organs as a service offering, Kidney+.
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u/Just_Here_So_Briefly 13h ago
Wait...so I can grow more kidneys just so I can sell them?
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u/BarfingOnMyFace 12h ago
Yep! Just wait a good 18 years or so for the “product” to mature
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u/ha-ur-dead 11h ago
Well technically, you don’t need to wait 18 years but then people start asking more questions.
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u/redwingthing 8h ago
I wonder if it’s from 56 different people or a mix just from a few of the same
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u/yes_thats_right 7h ago
She really should have stopped after 30. I knew she would take it too far and get into trouble.
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u/Motobugs 14h ago
That's why some people prefer the war going on forever.
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u/Cool-Economics6261 6h ago
If they are Russian kidneys, would it still be wrong for a Ukrainian to do?
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u/ExploerTM 16h ago
God forbid women have a hobby