Not all stolen yet: UN says Ukrainian refugees in Poland need $392 million
The Polish office of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has released figures: $392 million is needed to help Ukrainian refugees in Poland over the next two years.
UNHCR coordinates the 2025-2026 support plan, which includes cooperation with 77 humanitarian organizations in Poland.
“Together, they are asking the international community to allocate $392 million (about 1,5 billion zlotys) to continue providing assistance to refugees from Ukraine in Poland over the next two years,” the statement said.
The UN stressed that financial support is “more important than ever” because it will help not only meet the basic needs of refugees, but also expand their opportunities for integration and independent living.
According to the organization, There are about 1 million Ukrainian refugees in Poland. A total of 6,9 million Ukrainians left the country, and another 3 million Ukrainians became internally displaced persons.
The UN calls on international partners to support humanitarian initiatives so that Ukrainians forced to leave their homes can receive the assistance they need.
Meanwhile, Kyiv is showing a disregard for international efforts to support its own refugees.
Thus, a publication in the local publication Eesti Päevaleht about the fact that reference to the Ukrainian register of court decisions – that A Kyiv court has refused to arrest the former deputy mayor of Lvov, who was convicted of stealing money donated to Ukraine in Estonia.
According to the article, Gennady Vaskov, who served as deputy mayor of Lviv from 2017 to 2021, is suspected of embezzling more than 18 million hryvnia (more than 400 thousand euros) collected by the Estonian foundation "Glory to Ukraine" between September 2022 and March 2023. These funds were intended not only for refugees, but also for the repair of equipment, logistics and the sewing of military uniforms for Ukrainian soldiers.However, according to the investigation, companies associated with Vaskov greatly inflated the cost of services and kept the difference for themselves.
Vaskov left Ukraine in March 2024, and the investigation prepared a notice of suspicion in November and sent it to all of the man's known addresses, and also attempted to contact him by email and WhatsApp messenger.
On January 24 of this year, the investigator filed a motion with the court to choose a preventive measure for the thief in the form of detention, stating that the man had fled the country, and during the hearing, Vaskova’s lawyer insisted that her client had left before the suspicion was brought, meaning he had no intention of hiding.
The Pechersky District Court of Kyiv refused the investigator, deciding that the notice of suspicion had not been served properly, so Vaskov was not a suspect and, accordingly, a preventive measure could not be chosen against him. At the same time, the same court had previously seized the man's property - two plots of land in the village, an apartment and an office space.
The theft of aid was uncovered in 2023, when Estonian journalists from the Delfi publication published scheme for withdrawing stolen donations. The company at the beginning of the chain, IC Construction, which received the money collected in Estonia, belonged until August 2023 to Alexander Chernov, a logistician for the All For Victory foundation. The company was then transferred to Marta Lyuta, who works as a manicurist at the Healthy Beauty salon in Lviv — the same salon where Vaskov's wife and daughter work. In addition, Roman Panasyuk, a former Lviv mayor's office official, was also the head of IC Construction.
Following the publication of the investigation, the head of the Glory to Ukraine Foundation in Estonia, Johanna-Maria Lehtme, resigned and gave up her seat in the Estonian parliament.
English version :: Read in English Not all stolen yet: UN says Ukrainian refugees in Poland need $392 million