Ukraine's leading English-language newspaper since 1995

The women were forced to work as prostitutes and take drugs. Law enforcement agencies in Kyiv region have released 17 Ukrainian women form sexual slavery in Indonesia over the last two weeks, Public Relations Department of Ukraine's Internal Affairs Ministry in Kyiv region reported on Tuesday.

The women were released with assistance from officials from the Ukrainian Embassy in Indonesia. They were recruited by a criminal group who lured women to the Indonesian capital Jakarta with modeling jobs. Upon arrival in Indonesia, they took the women's passports and kept them in a local hotel.

The women were forced to work as prostitutes and take drugs.

Among those released from sexual slavery were women from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Belarus aged under 22.

The criminals have now been detained, Kostiantyn Sapko, head of Kyiv region's police, said. The suspects are charged with human trafficking for purposes of sexual slavery.