WASHINGTON, June 15 (Reuters) - The U.S. sharpened its criticism of Russia's record on human trafficking on Thursday, citing Moscow’s treatment of conscripts and Ukrainian children, in an annual report on countries that Washington says are failing to protect victims. The State Department’s 2023 Trafficking in Persons report kept Russia on a list of "state sponsors" of human trafficking and ranked Russia among the world's worst at addressing the problem. A section on Russia included more criticism than last year of Moscow's detention of people in Ukraine. “There was a government policy or pattern of trafficking of Ukrainian citizens and North Korean workers,” it added. The report put Russia in Tier 3, which groups the worst offenders in human trafficking, where it was last year.

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Persons: Vladimir Putin, ”, Matt Spetalnick, Simon Lewis, Cynthia Osterman Organizations: Criminal, State Department, Thomson Locations: U.S, Washington, Russia, Moscow, Ukraine, North, Syria, Russia's, Tier, Algeria, Chad, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Malaysia, Vietnam