The United States on Thursday slammed Russia over human trafficking, citing the forced deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia and forcing foreigners to fight in the Ukraine war, in an annual report on countries Washington says fail to protect victims of human crimes. human trafficking, reports Reuterswith.

The State Department’s 2023 Human Trafficking Report lists Russia as a “state sponsor” of human trafficking. Relations between Moscow and Washington are at a breaking point due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

In the section on Russia, there were more criticisms of Moscow’s arrests of people in Ukraine than last year. The report also notes the “forced transfer of thousands of Ukrainian children to Russia,” for which the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin.

“There was a government policy or scheme to trade Ukrainian citizens and North Korean workers,” he added.

“There have also been reports that Russian officials are coercing, deceiving or coercing adult foreigners to participate in Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.”

The Russian Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In the report, Russia was placed on the third level, which groups the countries with the biggest criminals in the field of human trafficking, where it was also placed last year. The State Department downgraded Algeria, Chad, Djibouti and Equatorial Guinea to level three.