Schemes: Investigating Ukraine

• February 19, 2025

  Russia Turns To Cuban Recruits As It Struggles With Conscription, RFE/RL Reveals

  An RFE/RL investigation reveals details about the role of Cuban mercenaries fighting in Russia's war against Ukraine, with some avidly embracing the Kremlin's narratives. Havana has said it’s cracking down on “human trafficking” to the war, but given its ties to Moscow, not everybody is convinced.

• December 03, 2024

  How Russia Prepares Children In Occupied Ukraine For War Against Their Own Country

  In the parts of Ukraine that it occupies, Russia is using a militaristic youth movement to foster the loyalty of minors and prepare them to fight in Moscow’s war against their native country.

• November 28, 2024

  Exclusive: Belarus State Firm Hosted Russian 'Filtration' Camp Where Ukrainians Were Allegedly Tortured

  An investigation by RFE/RL and its partners reveals for the first time that Russian forces operated a so-called “filtration” camp in Belarus on the grounds of a company ultimately controlled by authoritarian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s government.

• November 21, 2024

  How Ukraine Lost $24 Million: Sanctioned Businessman's Assets Go To Private Buyers

  Sanctions failed to stop the selloff of Russian-owned assets in Ukraine worth $24 million to private companies rather than the state, Schemes, the investigative unit of RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service, found. The Justice Ministry says it is examining what happened and gathering evidence.

• November 14, 2024

  RFE/RL Uncovers $1 Million Dubai Property In Ukrainian Lawmaker's Family

  An investigation by RFE/RL has uncovered that family members of a Ukrainian legislator from President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s Servant of the People party has hidden property in Dubai worth more than $1 million -- well beyond what they could have likely afforded on their official incomes.

• November 08, 2024

  Official In Ukrainian President's Office Was Frequent Flier To Russia, Investigation Finds

  The last known time Oleh Tatarov flew to Moscow was on April 22, 2019, a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy won his first term in office. A little over a year later, Tatarov was a controversial high-ranking member of Zelenskiy’s administration in Kyiv.

• October 16, 2024

  Exclusive: Russia Recruits Ukrainian Kids To Burn Military Hardware For Cash

  Ukrainian children as young as 12 are burning cars and other government property to earn some quick money, an exclusive RFE/RL investigation has found. "We burned two military vehicles. We wanted to make some quick money," one of the teenagers told RFE/RL.

• October 14, 2024

  Threatening E-Mails Sent To Ukrainian Organizations After RFE/RL Investigation

  A large number of state institutions in Ukraine on October 14 were evacuated after hundreds of schools, businesses, embassies, and media outlets received e-mails threatening a terrorist attack.

• September 17, 2024

  Leaked Records Detail Vast Russian Influence Campaign Targeting Ukraine, EU

  A cache of leaked Russian records shines light on a multifaceted Russian disinformation campaign that sought to destabilize Ukraine and damage its support in the West, while also boosting far-right EU parties that would promote pro-Russian narratives.

• August 27, 2024

  U.S. Imposes Sanctions On 6 Companies Implicated In Report By RFE/RL's Schemes

  A list of individuals and companies added to the U.S. Commerce Department’s sanctions list last week as a result of the help they provided Moscow in obtaining electronic components includes four Russian and two European companies that had been implicated in an investigative report by Schemes

• August 09, 2024

  Ukrainian Quick-Cash Company Owners Are Russian Citizens, Investigation Finds

  The majority owners of two companies in Ukraine’s instant-loan sector hold Russian citizenship, Schemes has found -- a violation of wartime banking regulations intended to shield the embattled country’s financial sector from Russian influence.

• July 25, 2024

  Suspect In Killing Of Former Ukrainian Lawmaker Detained

  President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on July 25 that a suspect in the shooting death of former lawmaker Iryna Farion, who was known for campaigns promoting the Ukrainian language, was detained in the eastern city of Dnipro.

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