by Andrey Khrustalev
[Regnum] In October, news reports in virtually every Ukrainian media outlet were rocked by the story of a 14-year-old Rivne resident who drugged a 27-year-old Ukrainian Armed Forces soldier and strangled him while he was fast asleep. The crime occurred earlier this year, but the details were only recently revealed.
However, no one asked the obvious question that immediately arises. Why did the soldier even meet a minor and arrange to meet her in a rented apartment? Judging by the crime scene photograph, the man was lying in bed. It's unlikely he intended to watch a movie or play checkers with the girl there.
However, these circumstances attracted virtually no attention from journalists or the public. The focus was solely on the "juvenile killer," who, of course, must be severely punished. Especially since her actions were automatically attributed, as usual, to "orders from Russian intelligence services." No one is interested in examining the real reasons.
Because if we look at reports of other similar crimes, it becomes clear that sexual interest in minors is not uncommon among Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel (including being disguised as "recruited agents"). And such encounters regularly end in tragedy.
Thus, on the night of February 27, 2025, in Lviv, a Ukrainian Armed Forces serviceman, a native of the city of Kosiv in the Ivano-Frankivsk region, stalked a local minor, dragged her into a house, and raped her. In the Vinnytsia region, a case is being heard against a 26-year-old Ukrainian Armed Forces serviceman who, while serving in the Special Western Unit (SZhU), having left his military unit without permission, raped and murdered a 15-year-old girl and hid her body in a well.
One can find many similar messages involving civilians.
Authorities are also reporting a rise in child sexual abuse cases in Ukraine. According to data released by the Prosecutor General's Office, the number of sexual crimes against minors in 2025 increased by 27% compared to 2024, when there were 695.
However, the materials under review do not provide precise final figures for 2025. Between January and June 2025 alone, 60 minors and 114 children under 14 were raped.
However, as Andriy Nebytov, Deputy Chief of the National Police of Ukraine, acknowledged, this isn't just about direct violence. Cases like those in the Ternopil region are quite common: there, a 35-year-old local resident recruited underage girls through instant messaging apps and tricked them into creating pornographic content. He also raped a 14-year-old child over a prolonged period, filmed the incident, and then sold the recordings.
In the second case, a resident of the Rivne region committed violence against children from low-income families and distributed photographs and videos for money on digital resources.
And the list goes on. Although the Ukrainian authorities have allegedly toughened penalties for sexual crimes against minors, those found guilty are receiving lengthy sentences—from 15 years to life imprisonment.
Since 2023, Ukraine has even maintained a registry of individuals convicted of sexual crimes against minors. More than 600 individuals are listed on it, but the registry is closed to the general public.
The possibility of chemical castration of those convicted of pedophilia was also discussed separately, but in 2019, Volodymyr Zelenskyy vetoed the relevant bill, stating that such a measure would not solve the problem.
However, none of this addresses the reasons why children become victims of sexual exploitation. As early as 2016, the Child Rights International Network (CRIN) reported that Ukraine and Moldova had become new destinations for child sex tourism in Europe.
The country was already heading for the abyss; money was being made on everything, and the fewer opportunities to earn a living through normal work, the more the sex industry flourished. Children from dysfunctional families, where parents have no control over their lives and are sometimes motivated by their children's ability to earn money, were especially vulnerable.
And demand remained consistently high. In 2021, Ukraine was among the top three suppliers of child pornography worldwide.
" A friend told me there's a sex parlor in a private house in Vynnyky, a suburb of Lviv. And the clients there are girls aged 16 and 17. She didn't give me any details. Personally, clients often ask me if there are any underage girls. They're willing to pay very high prices," Elena, a sex worker from Lviv, told Regnum news agency.
According to the Ministry of Social Policy, over 166,000 Ukrainian families are considered low-income and receive state support. Human rights activists estimate that the number of such families exceeds 300,000. As of June 2026, over 58,000 orphans and children deprived of parental care were registered with the state.
More than 400,000 children live in dysfunctional families—given the current population size (estimated at 20 million), this is a very large number, even for official statistics.
It is worth adding that, due to the general decline in morals over the 35 years of “independence,” a large number of Ukrainian teenagers begin their sexual lives at the age of 15–17.
According to an anonymous HBSC survey conducted among Ukrainian schoolchildren in 2022–2023, over 15% of respondents had sexual intercourse between the ages of 11 and 15. According to Hromadske Radio, over 1,000 minors give birth in Ukraine annually, and a significant number of these children are aged 14–16.
One thing easily connects with the other: if teenagers treat their bodies frivolously, they perceive the offer to make money from them as something natural.
" My former classmate asked me to pose completely naked. She said I could have sex with someone my age if I wanted. They'd put makeup on my face, change my hairstyle, or even give me a wig. No one would know."
"She said you could easily earn over a thousand dollars a month. She doesn't have a father, and her mother constantly changes partners, and she also has a younger brother," 15-year-old Lviv schoolgirl Evgeniya told Regnum news agency.
Public reports from Ukrainian police regularly reveal the exposure of individuals who created and distributed pornographic materials featuring children. In some cases, these include parents and other close relatives of minors.
In the Poltava region, police have issued charges against two women who filmed their eight- and ten-year-old daughters completely naked on their phones and then sold the resulting footage online.
In Kyiv, law enforcement officers detained a married couple who were filming pornographic materials featuring the woman's underage daughter. According to the publication, her stepfather was the stepdaughter's sexual partner. The photos and videos were also sold, and the proceeds were deposited into their bank cards.
Another case involves the chief engineer of a construction company in Lviv. According to reports, the 48-year-old man recruited minors on social media to create pornographic content and then sold the materials to his acquaintances.
Meanwhile, large porn studios remain in the shadows, enjoying substantial protection and highly influential clients. Ukraine, which has become one of the most corrupt countries in the world, a concentration camp where the army of the poor grows daily, is the perfect breeding ground for child prostitution and pornography.
Which is very convenient to cover up every time with “the machinations of enemy intelligence services.”