Law Enforcement in Dnipropetrovsk Region Frees 120 People from Slavery

People were lured under the pretext of agricultural work, only to be enslaved.

Kyiv law enforcement officers detained a group of individuals who held 120 people in forced labor in Dnipropetrovsk region, the Kyiv City Prosecutor's Office reports.

According to the investigation, members of the group recruited people in difficult life circumstances and without permanent residence at railway stations in Kyiv, Dnipro and Odesa.

The perpetrators offered these people jobs involving the growing and harvesting of agricultural products in Dnipropetrovsk region, promising wages of 3,000 to 4,000 hryvnias a month, as well as free housing and three meals a day.

The recruited people were transported by minibus to the territory of an agricultural firm in Dnipropetrovsk region, where they were housed in dilapidated houses with completely inadequate living conditions.

Workers were engaged daily in production and warehouse facilities of the agricultural firm, and during the season in harvesting fields. They were forced to work 12 to 16 hours a day. The promised money was never paid to the victims, and their "earnings" were limited to meals of questionable quality and alcoholic drinks.

On the grounds of the houses where the recruited people lived, so-called "foremen" constantly monitored them, controlled their wake-up and assignment to work, restricted their movement after returning from work, humiliated them, and applied psychological pressure.

When the recruited people attempted to leave the barracks without permission, the recruiters and their trusted associates threatened to use force, and when their demands were not met, they did use it. In addition, the perpetrators fraudulently took the victims' mobile phones and passports.

Despite inhumane living and working conditions, and due to the lack of documents, means of communication and money, the workers were forced to remain at the agricultural firm and keep working.

Following the results of many months of work documenting the activities of the criminal group, on September 8 law enforcement carried out 18 searches, including at the agricultural enterprise's addresses, in the houses where people were held, and in the suspects' vehicles.

During the investigative actions, drafts, money, bank cards, phones, laptops, passports, bottles of alcohol and other material evidence were seized.

At the time of the searches, 120 people were in forced labor on the territory of the agricultural enterprise; they have now been freed. 17 of them have already applied to law enforcement agencies with statements that a crime was committed against them.

Five suspects have been detained under Article 208 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine. Among those detained are recruiters and foremen.

The question of notifying the detainees of suspicion and choosing a preventive measure is currently being decided. Investigative actions in the criminal proceedings are ongoing.