In September 2022, Yaroslav Banit, a resident of Zhmerynka, decided to make some money by selling humanitarian vehicles. For this purpose, he registered an organization “International Charitable Foundation Heroyam Slava” in Vinnytsia and started bringing used vehicles from Lithuania, declaring them as humanitarian aid for the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) at the customs, thus avoiding any customs fees.

However, these vehicles were not given to the AFU; instead, they were put for sale. As law enforcement bodies found out later, Yaroslav Banit, the head of the charitable foundation, had only been signing the documents, required for preferential customs clearance, receiving UAH 2,000 for each vehicle. The investigators failed to identify who had actually made money from this scheme. As a result, Banit was sentenced to three years, conditionally іYaroslav Banit was tried pursuant to Art. 201-2 of the CC, with the suggestion of minimal possible punishment under martial law – 5 years of imprisonment; but pursuant to Art. 75 of the CC, the judge changed this sentence to three years probation, and got hundreds of fines for the violations of traffic regulations, which come almost every day. The matter is: the financial statements of his foundation, which is currently in the process of termination, still reflect 387 registered humanitarian vehicles, although this is prohibited by law.

The scale of trade in humanitarian vehicles

The story of Yaroslav Banit is far from being unique. In recent months, there have been ever more frequent reports about cases of reselling vehicles, brought into Ukraine under the guise of humanitarian aid. Due to martial law, such vehicles can be brought without obligatory customs payments іthe customs fee, excise tax, and value added tax (VAT); the cost of customs clearance differs depending on the car price, age, and engine capacity – from EUR 2.5 to 10 thousand and more. This possibility couldn’t escape the attention of fraudsters and smugglers.

NGL.media found out that the commercial sale of “humanitarian” vehicles in Ukraine has grown considerably. We have discovered thousands of such vehicles and hundreds of charitable foundations that profit from them.

In this article, you will also find the database of all the vehicles, brought for humanitarian purposes in 2023-2025, which lists almost 100 thousand unique VIN codes.

This is how we have done it

All vehicles, brought into Ukraine for humanitarian purposes, enter the register of humanitarian aid beneficiaries іThe automated system of humanitarian aid registration (AS HA), which covers the Unified register of beneficiaries. However, this procedure was introduced only on December 1, 2023. There had been practically no unified registration before, so now it is impossible to determine the exact number of vehicles, brought into Ukraine without any customs fees after the Russian invasion. In addition, in April-June 2022, there was a concessionary mode, which meant exemption from the entrance fee for any vehicles whatsoever, including those brought for personal use or sale.

On NGL.media’s request, the Ministry of Social Policy provided a complete list of VIN codes іVehicle Identification Number – a unique 17-digit identification number of the vehicle, containing the information about the producer, the characteristics and the year of production. VIN code can be found in the vehicle registration certificate or the insurance, or on the plate under the windshield, on the driver’s door jamb, under the hood or on the car frame, the entry date, the make and model of the vehicle, and its recipients. The data obtained cover the period from December 1, 2023, till May 8, 2025 and a total of almost 100 thousand vehicles іto be more specific, 99,107 vehicles of different types, except for specialized machinery, brought into the country as humanitarian aid.

To trace these vehicles emerging in the commercial market, NGL.media used the database of the specialized marketplace, AUTO.RIA. It turned out that at least 4,545 vehicles (about 5% of the total number) were put for sale.

It should be noted that the actual scale of trade in “humanitarian” vehicles is larger. Although AUTO.RIA is the largest online platform for sale of vehicles, it is far from being the only one іThe trade in vehicles in Ukraine is carried out in dozens of online platforms, the most popular ones being RST.ua, OLX, Automoto.ua, AvtoBazar.ua, Cars.ua, InfoCar.ua etc. In addition, the purchase and sale agreements can be made directly, without the use of marketplaces, or such vehicles can be just disassembled into spareparts.

Who sells humanitarian vehicles?

NGL.media found out that the absolute majority of cases of selling humanitarian vehicles was related to charitable foundations, although some may involve local authorities or military administrations.

It turned out that, in the first place,  with over 190 vehicles, found for sale, was the Kyiv-based charitable organization “Charitable Foundation ‘Liubov Ridnoi Zemli” [Love of the Native Land]. For instance, the Mitsubishi Outlander XL 2007, brought by this foundation last year, was sold this July for USD 5.5 thousand. The activity of this foundation attracted the attention of the Economic Security Bureau (ESB) last November, and that’s when the foundation stopped bringing vehicles into the country. This March, Serhii Kulia, its director, was sentenced to three years conditionally pursuant to the article on aiding and abetting in forgery, though previously he had been imprisoned several times for robbery with violence and drugs.

Among the leaders in the number of humanitarian vehicles, put for sale on AUTO.RIA, there are also the Kyiv-based International Charitable Foundation of Apostle Andrew the First-Called (188 vehicles), the Rivne-based charitable foundation “Nezlamnist.UA” (182 vehicles), the Kyiv-based foundation “All Forces for Victory!” (154 vehicles) and the Vinnytsia-based “Free Nation” (130 vehicles).

NGL.media asked these five organizations for their comments on this article, but none of them has ever answered.

But charitable foundations are not the only ones, bringing vehicles into the country. For instance, the village council of Sokilnyky village in the suburbs of Lviv has brought in about 50 humanitarian vehicles, one of which – a Toyota RAV4 2001 – was sold in Zaporizhzhia this May. Taras Sulymko, the head of the Sokilnyky village council, assured that this car had been transferred to an active serviceman free of charge. “We found out that later he was discharged from the army and left the car at the military base, and other servicemen could have sold it,” Sulymko said in the conversation with NGL.media. “I will consult with our lawyers to see what we can do about it.”

On sale, NGL.media also found crossovers Mitsubishi Pajero and Mitsubishi L200, brought in as humanitarian aid for the Dnipro district military administration. The administration didn’t respond to our request for comments.

How is it punished?

Obviously, any sale of humanitarian aid is prohibited in Ukraine; the Law on Humanitarian Aid clearly states that humanitarian aid should be targeted and free of charge. 

The sale of such aid is considered a serious crime under Article 201-2 of the CCU. Depending on the circumstances, the punishment for this crime may range from a fine (UAH 34-51 thousand) to three years or more of imprisonment. Instead, under the martial law in force in Ukraine, the minimum punishment under this article is five years of imprisonment.

However, NGL.media failed to find really strict sentences in the court register – as a rule, the perpetrators receive suspended sentences or fines.

What losses are caused by this activity?

It is clear that bringing vehicles into the country free of customs fees causes considerable losses to the state budget, since they enter the internal market without any obligatory payments – actually, they are smuggled in. The amounts of these payments are defined based on the vehicle characteristics – age, engine capacity, declared cost, etc. For instance, in case of the crossover Jeep Cherokee 2014, brought in by the abovementioned Foundation of Apostle Andrew the First-Called and put up for sale before it even crossed the border, the budget fell short of USD 5,100.

The cumulative loss of the budget is hundreds of millions of hryvnia. According to minimal estimates іthe calculations used the cost of customs clearance for a vehicle of USD 3,000, which includes entrance fee, excise tax, and VAT, based only on the data, found by NGL.media and AUTO.RIA, which cover a year and a half, the state budget of Ukraine fell short of over UAH 570 mln.

Which vehicles enter Ukraine according to the “humanitarian” scheme?

Predictably, it mainly concerns the vehicles which are 15 or more years old; this is almost 80% of all the transportation means, brought into Ukraine as humanitarian aid. The most popular cars are those produced in 2004-2008 – in a year and a half, almost 47 thousand such vehicles have been brought in.

However, NGL.media found that this scheme was also used to bring 4.1 thousand practically new cars, made in 2023-2025, into Ukraine. These are mostly pick-ups (Toyota Hilux, SsangYong Musso Grand, Mitsubishi L200, Peugeot Landtrek, etc.) or minivans (Ford Transit, Volkswagen Crafter, etc.). But really expensive cars are also found, for instance, new Toyota Land Cruiser Prado, which were brought in free of charge by the Kherson regional prosecutor’s office and the Prosecutor General’s Office.

How are the sold humanitarian vehicles registered by the state?

Mostly, the prerequisite is the temporary registration for the martial law period, but the vehicles are often registered in the financial statements of charitable organizations. For instance, the financial statements of the abovementioned Rivne-based charitable foundation “Nezlamnist.UA” have 892 vehicles in their list, some of which have already been sold via AUTO.RIA.

However, pursuant to the Law on Humanitarian Aid, charitable organizations should transfer such vehicles to the humanitarian aid beneficiaries free of charge within 90 days of crossing the border.

In September, the Verkhovna Rada adopted amendments to this law, which will come into force on January 2, 2026. Among other things, these changes envisage the introduction of the status of the “verified humanitarian organization”. Then, charitable organizations, which will succeed in obtaining this status [вставка: they have to confirm their financing for the previous calendar year; the availability of the required number of the hired labour, internal standards of their activity, and public and financial reports for the last two years] will be able to register the required number of humanitarian vehicles in their name.

Data analysis Maksym Piho, editor Oleh Onysko, translation Nelya Plakhota, illustration Victoria Demchuk