The child was only one day old: in Mykolaiv the parents were sentenced to 11 and 10 years in prison for selling their daughter

The Zavodskyi District Court of the city of Mykolaiv found guilty the parents who handed their newborn daughter to another woman for 10,000 US dollars. The verdict was handed down on 7 July 2026: the mother was sentenced to 11 years, and the father to 10 years of imprisonment without confiscation of property.

According to the case materials, a 21-year-old woman and her 38-year-old cohabiting partner agreed to sell the child while she was still pregnant. The woman did not plan to raise the baby herself and was looking for someone to whom she could irrevocably transfer the child for money.

The mother received the first part of the money on 21 November 2025 near Maternity Hospital No. 3. In the park “Lisky” she was handed a UAH 5,000 advance, after which she wrote a receipt. The next day, 22 November, the future child’s father met the woman, who was acting under law enforcement control, in Shevchenko Park. He received another UAH 3,000 and also confirmed the agreement in writing.

The girl was born on 1 January 2026. Already the next day, at around 13:10, the parents took the newborn out of Maternity Hospital No. 3, handed over the medical documents and the child to the woman who was participating in a special investigative experiment.

The mother was handed 10,000 US dollars, which at the official National Bank exchange rate at that time amounted to UAH 421,701. The bills were imitation and bore the same serial number. While the woman stepped away to count the money, the father handed the newborn daughter to the ‘buyer’ in the car. After that, both were detained by law enforcement officers.

The previously received UAH 8,000 advance was spent by the couple. The child’s father told the court that part of the money was used for food and part for the purchase of narcotics.

The mother did not plead guilty. She insisted that she allegedly wanted to transfer her daughter into the care of a financially secure family and called the actions of law enforcement a provocation. The court rejected this version, noting that the woman received money, handed over the child’s documents and had several opportunities to back out of the agreement.

The father pleaded guilty and expressed remorse. He confirmed that he knew about the sum of 10,000 dollars, received an advance and understood that a child cannot be the object of sale. The court took the guilty plea and sincere remorse into account as mitigating circumstances.

After studying recorded conversations, meeting videos, the receipt, expert reports and witness testimony, the court found the guilt of both parents proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

“The court considers that the defendants’ guilt in committing the criminal offense is fully proven. The defendants’ actions are qualified by the court under Part 3 of Article 149 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine as trafficking in persons, committed by a group of persons by prior conspiracy, with respect to a minor by his parents, and also with respect to an infant.”

Time spent in custody from 2 January 2026 will be credited toward the convicted persons’ sentences on a day-for-day basis. Until the verdict takes legal effect, both will remain in the pre-trial detention center. The imitation 10,000 dollars were ordered by the court to be destroyed, and the original receipts will remain in the criminal case file.

The newborn girl was granted the status of a child deprived of parental care. By decision of the executive committee of the Mykolaiv City Council, a guardian was appointed for her.

The verdict can still be appealed to the Mykolaiv Court of Appeal within 30 days. Until the appeal period expires or a possible complaint is considered, it is not considered to have come into final legal force.

Earlier we wrote:

• Mother gave children for begging: 11-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter were valued at $1,000
• In the Chernihiv region, a mother who sold her own underage daughter for sexual exploitation was detained
• $10,000 for an infant: a Mykolaiv couple sold their own newborn child
• Mykolaiv-style “assistance”: a man recruited people with disabilities for begging
• Up to €70,000 for a child: in Ukraine, a group of criminals who sold newborns to foreigners was uncovered