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Two UK university student unions have suspended their Ukrainian societies as they probe if they breached charity rules to buy drones that were later sent to support troops fighting Russian soldiers.
The unions at University College London and Lancaster University suspended the societies after becoming aware of the purchases, which were made last year, arguing they were a potential breach of UK charity laws.
Both universities’ student unions are UK-registered charities and governed by the Charity Commission, which regulates the use of funds and assets, as well as rules around fundraising.
According to the watchdog’s rules, “providing aid or military supplies to any foreign armed force is not a charitable purpose, and no charity can legally undertake such activity”.
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, both sides have used drones for aerial surveillance, cover and long-range attacks.
The student unions’ investigations, which are both still live, are looking into whether the purchases broke the commission’s rules.
UCL’s student union suspended its society in March after finding the group had used £1,500 in profits from an organised club night in Mayfair last October to buy a DJI Mavic drone — a weapon regularly used by Ukrainian troops fighting Russia — and sent it to a frontline soldier.
Artur Podsokha, president of the society, said he “couldn’t remain silent while Russia’s war has been terrorising our country since 2014”, when Moscow annexed Crimea.
Podsokha said the society had not explicitly fundraised but used profits from the event to fund the drone. “We believe it would be unfair for us to benefit from the UK’s support while doing nothing to help our own country and soldiers,” he said.
In a post on social media site Instagram last summer, Lancaster University’s society celebrated having raised more than £20,000 to support Ukraine, over half of which was used to purchase drones.
The caption accompanying the post said “the full list of purchased items” included “three DJI Mavic 3 Drones (3930£)” and “Drone parts for territorial defence forces (2150£)”.
Asked by the Financial Times about the purchases, the university’s student union said it had “just been made aware of the allegations”.
“We have not yet had an opportunity to investigate these, but on the basis of the allegations we have decided to suspend the society’s affiliation to LUSU, on a precautionary basis, whilst we undertake an urgent investigation,” it said.
The student union added the society had not received any funding from the university.
Lancaster University’s Ukrainian Society said its “fundraising activities have always been strictly humanitarian. We have never made any announcements or posts regarding fundraising directed at military targets.”
“Any social media content that might be interpreted as dual-use items was exclusively related to the personal initiatives of individual members of our society, not official society fundraising activities,” it added.
Podsokha of UCL said the society’s committee had purchased the drone and that he and his colleagues felt “privileged to be safe [in London], while Ukraine endures constant shelling”. The soldier who received it had sent them a thank you video, he added.
UCL said it supported “the action taken by the union to suspend the Ukrainian society”.
“Their investigation and disciplinary processes are fully independent of UCL, so it would be inappropriate to make any further comment while this is ongoing,” the university added.
Lancaster University said it took “a close and supportive interest” in the work of the student union and “fully expect their own regulations to be adhered to. As such, we support their action to suspend the society and investigate.”
In January, the Charity Commission issued an official warning to the Chabad Lubavitch Centres North East London and Essex Limited, which set up a fundraising page for a soldier in the Israel Defense Forces in northern Israel.
The page — which was removed after the commission received 180 complaints — raised about £2,280, with £937 sent directly to the soldier, according to the commission.
