University society says 'we can't sit back' after student's union suspends it over 'drone purchases for Ukraine'
4 May 2025, 18:31
Two student unions have been accused of punishing their Ukrainian societies after suspending them over the alleged purchase of drones intended to be used against Russian troops.
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Students’ unions at University College London and Lancaster University reportedly suspended their Ukrainian societies amid concerns the alleged purchases could be in breach of UK charity regulations.
UCL's Ukrainian Society reportedly spent £1,500 on a DJI Mavic 3 drone from an online seller in October.
They sent it to Ukrainian soldier who was known to one of the members, according to The Sunday Times.
Artur Podsokha, 21, president of the Ukrainian Society at UCL, has defended the purchase.
The third year politics, sociology and eastern European studies student asked why a student society was suspended for delivering just one surveillance drone to Ukraine “when the UK government has already sent billions of pounds to the Ukrainian military”.
He added: "We, as Ukrainians, are very privileged to be in the United Kingdom, studying at one of the best universities in the world in safety. We are very thankful to the UK government but, at the same time, how can we sit and not help?”
"Maybe we should have done it in a different way, but our cities are being bombarded to heaven every day, cities are in ruins. Many people who I personally know have died in the conflict."
The majority of student' unions, including at those universities, are registered charities.
This means they must follow Charity Commission rules around fundraising.
The commission is now reportedly investigating the claims.
“Providing aid or military supplies to any foreign armed force is not a charitable purpose, and no charity can legally undertake such activity,” it said.
The society insists it has not fundraised specifically for the drone, instead using money raised from an event at a club in London’s Mayfair.
A member allegedly made the purchase from their personal account, and not via the students’ union.
The society argues it was not aware the profits would be viewed as charity donations. It also denied being aware that buying drones would breach commission rules.
Meanwhile, Lancaster University’s Ukrainian Society has posted on its social media multiple times about fundraising for drones.
In one post, it wrote: “We continue to help our armed forces. This time we purchased and delivered another DJI Mavic 3 Classic drone. We are grateful for everyone who joined the fundraiser. The total amount raised was over £1,400. Together to victory!”
In another, it celebrated raising more than £20,000 to support Ukraine, over half of which it said was used to purchase drones.
A spokesman from the Lancaster University Students’ Union said: “We have just started looking into the matter, but, on the basis of the allegations, we have decided to suspend the society’s affiliation to LUSU, on a precautionary basis, while we undertake this urgent investigation.”
The union added that society never received any funds from the university.
A statement from Lancaster University said: “Although LUSU is a separate legal entity to the university, we retain a close and supportive interest in their work and expect their own regulations to be adhered to — as such we support their action to suspend the society and investigate.”
A Charity Commission spokeswoman said: “Concerns have been raised in the media relating to the activities of the Ukrainian societies of the UCLU and Lancaster University Students’ Union. We are currently assessing the information available to us to determine next steps.”
This comes after a cutting-edge new British drone came into operation on Friday as Sir Keir Starmer vowed that the Government would “stand up to Putin and ruthlessly protect UK and European security”.
The StormShroud air systems will be fitted with a high-tech signal jammer to disrupt enemy radar at long range and fly alongside RAF crews on frontline missions.
Number 10 said the development took advantage of “learnings from countering (Vladimir) Putin’s illegal war in Ukraine”.
The RAF is putting an initial £19 million into StormShroud, which makes use of BriteStorm, an electronic warfare technology made by Leonardo UK.
