Ukrainian woman, who entered Georgia with ‘her’ 10 kids, charged with trafficking
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Wednesday, May 1
Ukrainian woman Iulia Susliak, 37, who was detained on April 8 in Georgia with “her 10 kids”, has been charged with human trafficking.
The Georgian Interior Ministry says that the 11th kid is missing, as the woman entered Russia [from Ukraine] with 11 children.
“The 11th child is being searched by Interpol,” the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia says.
The Georgian police have stated that one of the children is the US citizen.
“We are cooperating with the US embassy in Tbilisi to uncover details.”
Police say that four of the 10 children were born in 2017, “which rose a suspicion when all the ten children were hospitalized early in the month due to food intoxication.”
“Witnesses speak about mistreatment to the children. One of the children says that the woman is not his mother and that he is afraid of death,” the Interior Ministry has reported.
“DNA samples have already been taken. We are waiting for results,” the ministry reports.
Police say that the passports of the woman and the children are likely to be fake.
The woman says that all the ten children are hers, four are her biological children, while six others were born via surrogation, as “their father wanted many children.”
She told the Georgian media that she wished to enter Georgia’s Russian-occupied Abkhazia region in western Georgia, where “the father of the children lives.”
The Georgian police showed interest to the woman when the minors were transported to the Zugdidi hospital early in April with food intoxication and then were sent to Kutaisi hospital for additional treatment.
Eight of the children have already been discharged and taken to a shelter by the ministry, while two elder ones remain in Kutaisi hospital.
Human trafficking is punishable by 14 to 17 years in prison.
