So, like, apparently the student unions at University College London (UCL) and Lancaster University (LU) decided to hit the pause button on their Ukrainian student societies’ activities. Why, you ask? Well, it seems these students were on a mission to raise some cash to buy some Chinese DJI Mavic drones to support Ukraine’s war efforts. According to a report by the Financial Times (FT) on Thursday, the student unions were like, “Hold up, that might be breaking the law, dude.” Apparently, charities are not supposed to be providing military aid to foreign forces, and these student unions are registered as charities.
The FT report spilled the tea on how UCL put the brakes on its Ukrainian student organization back in March. They were all about using the profits from a club night to snag a DJI Mavic drone. And get this, they actually sent it over to Ukraine for the Armed Forces to use at the front. The “Cheese Grater,” which is UCL’s student magazine, quoted a spokesperson from the Ukrainian society who was all like, “Yo, this drone can totally be used for humanitarian and defense purposes, okay? It’s not just for fun and games.” They went on to say, “All Ukrainians abroad are trying to help out their country, and let’s be real, just sending aid won’t cut it. We gotta support the frontline, man.” And then they dropped the bomb with, “We’re at war with Russia, and every Ukrainian needs to step up for our country.” Artur Podsokha, the president of the UCL Ukrainian society, told the FT that they couldn’t just sit back while Russia was wrecking havoc on their homeland since 2014.
On the flip side, a US State Department spokesperson was like, “We’re out, guys. We’re not gonna be the middleman anymore in talks between Ukraine and Russia.” The Lancaster University students’ union admitted they only found out recently that the university’s Ukrainian crew had raised over £20,000 ($26,580) in the summer of 2023 to help out Ukraine. Half of that cash went towards buying three DJI Mavic 3 drones, along with some parts that were supposedly only for territorial defense. When they got called out on it, their spokesperson was all, “Nah, man, our official donations are strictly for humanitarian purposes. But hey, some of our peeps might have done their own thing with military aid, who knows?” UCL had their buddies’ backs, saying they were all for the student union’s actions, although any disciplinary stuff would be handled by an outside crew. As for Lancaster University, they were like, “No comment, folks.”
According to the Cheese Grater, the student union was like this close to wrapping up their investigations. They were thinking about laying down the law with some disciplinary action, like cutting ties, booting out committee members, giving a stern talking to, or just letting things slide. The union’s spokesperson was like, “We had no choice, man. We had to hit pause because, you know, charity rules and stuff.”
Alright, so Kyiv Post is spilling all the tea on what’s up in Ukraine since 1995. They’re all about keeping it real, with almost the whole world tuning in for the deets. And that’s a wrap on this whole drone drama, folks. Just remember, when in doubt, don’t mess with charity rules, okay?
