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No, Ukraine isn’t the money laundering or child sex trafficking capital of the world

Other countries have worse money laundering and human trafficking problems than Ukraine, according to experts and government reports.

Now amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine is a post claiming Ukraine is the "money laundering and child sex trafficking capital of the world!"

According to the State Department's latest Trafficking in Persons report, Russia has a more serious problem with child sex trafficking than Ukraine. Both countries struggle with the issue, the report said, but Ukraine took action to address it between 2020 and 2021, while Russia failed to make "significant efforts" to eliminate the problem.

While Ukraine convicted traffickers, increased financial assistance to victims, and launched awareness campaigns, Russia "convicted only one trafficker," failed to "initiate any new prosecutions of suspected traffickers," and "offered no funding or programs to provide services for trafficking victims."

Russia, not Ukraine, is among 11 governments the report says have "a documented 'policy or pattern' of human trafficking, trafficking in government-funded programs, forced labor in government-affiliated medical services or other sectors, sexual slavery in government camps, or employment or recruitment of child soldiers.

The report also ranks countries based on the extent of government efforts to meet minimum standards for the elimination of human trafficking. Tier 1, the United States' ranking, is the highest, but it doesn't mean the country has no human trafficking problems. Rather, it means the country fully meets minimum standards to eliminate trafficking. Tier 2 ' Ukraine's tier ' means a country's government doesn't fully meet the minimum standards but is making significant efforts to bring itself into compliance. Tier 3 includes countries such as Afghanistan and Russia that don't meet the minimum standards and aren't trying to.

We rate this post False.

Disinformation: Russia presented specific evidence to the UN on crimes committed by the Ukrainian authorities against their own citizens in Bucha

Therefore, the Kremlin’s claim that they presented a set of evidence to the UN which proves Ukraine’s crimes in Bucha is fake. That which the Russian Ambassador presented at a special press conference and the UN Security Council are impossible to be considered as “evidence.” Most of them are easily verifiable false claims and the rest is absurd allegations which are not considered as evidence in any format.

Fake: Ukraine Refuses to Finance Kharkiv, Kyiv Resigned to Russia’s Occupation of City

Ukraine is not compromising its territorial integrity and sovereignty. The first billion hryvni of financial assistance released for the regions liberated from Russian occupation does not include the Kharkiv region because intensive hostilities are continuing in this northeastern part of Ukraine's territory. Part of the Kharkiv region is still under Russian occupation. Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said that after all Ukrainian lands currently occupied by Russian troops are liberated, reconstruction work will begin immediately.

Fake: International Organizations Don’t Want to Investigate Bucha Atrocities

Amnesty International and many international organizations as well as representatives from various countries have expressed the need to investigate war crimes in the Kyiv region committed by Russian troops. Hundreds of journalists from all over the world and EU representatives have visited the towns where the atrocities were committed, international human rights activists, foreign forensics experts and representatives of the International Criminal Court are all collecting evidence of crimes committed.

Fake: Ukrainian Troops Blow Up Nitric Acid Tanks in Rubizhne

Contrary to Russian disinformation reports, the Ukrainian military did not blow up a nitric acid tank in Rubizhne, Luhansk province on April 9. According to Luhansk regional governor Serhiy Haidai, Russian troops had already twice blown up a nitric acid tank in Rubizhne. Blowing up its own chemical storage facility does not give the Ukrainian military any tactical advantage. The Ukrainian army has no plans to abandon its positions and leave Rubizhne.

Fake: Borrell for Resolving Conflict in Ukraine Militarily

Josep Borrell is proposing tougher sanctions to pressure Russia to stop its war crimes in Ukraine. He sees increased weapons supplies to Ukraine as a way of helping Kyiv protect its territory and its people from Russian army attacks and notes that Ukraine will definitely prevail.