AFU vehicles. The start of the full-scale war in 2022.
Apologies for the ALL CAPS, but I don’t know how else to convey this.
This is extremely important. PLEASE SHARE WIDELY.
Guys, why are you silent? Write something if you have time.

Let’s clarify so there can be no speculation or insinuations on the subject.

Why are we being prosecuted?!
I’m making everything public—the entire course of events. We have nothing to hide, nothing to distort, no lies to tell.

We’re being prosecuted for “CUSTOMS REGULATIONS VIOLATIONS.”

Have a look at the protocol—I’m posting it. The Dnipro Customs Office is involved.

No fraud, no schemes, no resale, no shady dealings with the vehicles. Yes, there are many fraudsters out there, but this is NOT our case. We are being prosecuted for an INCORRECTLY completed customs declaration at the border at a time when nobody knew how to do it properly, how to import and transfer these vehicles, what paperwork was needed to cross the border. We were just working for the country’s defense and for the AFU.

When the government finally created a transparent tool for importing such vehicles for the AFU, we immediately switched to that system and have been using it ever since. Everything is transparent now!

1. We purchased (with our own funds), imported into Ukraine, repaired, painted for military needs, and transferred to the AFU 28 diesel vehicles from February 24, 2022, through early 2023. I’m again posting a single photo for each of these 28 vehicles (there are many more) specifically for these 28 vehicles that are under these protocols. Not a single cent of state or budget funds was used.

Look carefully at these photos. These people and these vehicles have saved many lives and continue to protect all of us. I feel very, very ashamed that I now have to pull these Soldiers into court matters, asking them to come testify. I know all of them personally. And somehow, I’m the one who’s ashamed, not the customs officials. I can’t explain to them what’s going on! We live in one universe, the customs officers in another.

2. For each of these 28 vehicles, the Dnipro Customs Office wrote up 28 separate protocols. All are identical, copied word-for-word. I’m posting the most “recent” protocol (4 sheets) here. All others are the same, only the date, the volunteer, and the vehicle change. They contain nothing—no witnesses found, no vehicles found, nothing! I’m also posting the TRANSFER ACT for the military unit related to this exact vehicle and protocol. The vehicle is “alive” and currently in service at a military unit on the front line. The soldiers are in contact.

PAY ATTENTION! The Customs Office demands that we (volunteers) be fined an amount equal to the full value of all these vehicles and that ALL these vehicles be CONFISCATED from the AFU, taken from the Defenders, removed from their military units!

3. When I learned about the protocols issued against our volunteers, I immediately went to the customs office. IMPORTANT: They have a visitors’ log where everyone’s passport data and time of visit are recorded. On April 19, 2024, and again in early June 2024 (I’ll find the exact date), I was at the inspectors’ office at customs, trying to provide ALL INFORMATION about these vehicles—transfer acts, photos, videos, contacts of the units, subdivisions, and specific soldiers fighting with these vehicles, etc. I even suggested that the Soldiers drive these vehicles to the customs office, show them, and explain everything. Exactly what we are now doing and showing in court. All documents and evidence.

BUT. The customs officials responded the same way several times: “WE DON’T CARE! WE DON’T NEED THIS!”

They’re not interested in the AFU, the war, our Defenders, or the country’s defense.

The war has been ongoing for over two years now. Of course, we have lost some Soldiers, my friends. Some vehicles have been destroyed in the war. Damn, it’s war. But we have evidence for every single vehicle.

Right now, all 28 protocols are in court—28 SEPARATE CASES, not just one. Twenty-eight, Carl! I’m traveling to these hearings like I’m going to work.

I hope for fairness and objectivity in the court. There can’t be such insanity in the country during a total war. We’ll see.

4. The Dnipro Customs Office.
We have delivered 131 vehicles to the AFU over the course of the war. We helped and continue helping thousands of soldiers and tens of thousands of IDPs. We work every single day. Our volunteer center, “Palianytsia” Aid & Logistics Center, is operating. We produce EW systems, repair vehicles, equipment, drones, and do much more for the AFU and the country.

Now the customs office wants to CONFISCATE the vehicles from our Defenders. I know every single soldier personally. We maintain a complete registry and records of all vehicles, including what we repaired and replaced in each one, the parts used, and how much money was spent. Many vehicles return to us after missions for repairs and then go back to war. We continue doing this every day because we understand what the AFU is, and we understand that this is a TOTAL WAR—aimed at destroying the entire country and physically all of us—destroying our statehood and even the name “Ukraine.”

The military constantly asks me for the names of the customs officials. I’m strongly against personal accusations. That’s not right. We must remain a lawful state. No 1990s-style solutions. But you are public servants; your names are publicly available. You want to take vehicles away from the military—vehicles that save lives, that deliver ammunition, that evacuate wounded Soldiers from the battlefield. Ultimately, these vehicles are a means of survival in war!

What reaction do you expect from the troops? Will they give you pink elephants as gifts, or something else?

Also, I’m curious how you plan to CONFISCATE these vehicles from the front lines. Have you thought about that at all?

Yes, you found a legal loophole to hit volunteers and meet your protocol quota. What next?

Maybe it’s time to take off the rose-colored glasses? We’ve been at war for nearly three years. Maybe we should all be working together on defense?

Just as an example: EIGHT of our vehicles are used by the Air Defense forces in the Dnipropetrovsk region. Every day they shoot down Shaheds and missiles, protecting you and your families.

Maybe you can at least understand that? They are protecting you!

P.S. I’m trying to keep emotions in check, but I can’t. This absurdity tears me apart. This is the kind of “THANK YOU” we receive for all our work over 2.5 years. And with our own money, too.

P.S. 2 I’ll be preparing official letters to the Office of the President, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, the relevant customs committee in the Verkhovna Rada, and to the MPs in these committees, as well as to the embassies of foreign countries we cooperate with and whose citizens also helped deliver vehicles for the AFU across the border—countries like the USA, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania. I see no other way to fight this.

Glory to the AFU! Glory to Ukraine!