Russians were among the victims of illegal human organ transplants carried out at a clinic in Kosovo, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said in a report.
The organ donors were Russians in three of the 11 illegal transplant operations being investigated by the organization, RIA-Novosti reported Tuesday, citing the OSCE's publication.
The Medicus clinic in Kosovo's capital Pristina was named in the report, which added that the clinic used at least 24 organ donors from seven countries including Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. Established in 2008, its clients included Americans, Israelis, Germans, Canadians and Poles.
In April, a court in Pristina sentenced five people in the Medicus clinic case.
In the same month, the European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo opened a new inquiry into the same case. Law enforcement sources in several EU countries said in late May that the authorities were ready to charge eight more suspects.
The OSCE's report also said that Russians were supposedly used as organ donors at the University of Saint Catherine hospital in Bulgaria, but the investigation into that case was stopped due to a lack of evidence, the report said.
Transplant operations involving Russian donors were also performed at the Shalimov Transplant and Surgery Institute in Kiev, as well as in Azerbaijan, Ecuador and Kosovo, the report said. It added that several arrests were made in connection with these cases.
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