Fake "help the Ukrainian army" in Israel: Financial fraud or Russian provocation?
On Wednesday, 2 March 2022, targeted advertising in Hebrew began to be shown on the Israeli segment of Facebook, which calls for donations "in support of the Ukrainian army."
In this case, an unknown bank account number is indicated. The advertisement indicates following the link to the Standwithukraine.com.ua and Army SOS websites. Further, the sites open options for donating money for various military purposes and for helping refugees, including the possibility of paying with cryptocurrency.
A certain agarkov_pasha is indicated as the recipient of money through Pay Pal.
I noticed this strange advertisement and it aroused my suspicions. Therefore, I turned to the Ukrainian embassy for clarification.
Three leading diplomats — the Ukrainian ambassador, military and trade attaches — confirmed to me that none of them had heard anything about raising money for the Ukrainian army through this site. According to diplomats, no one authorized this incomprehensible structure to collect money in Israel for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
After my appeal, a warning appeared on the official website of the embassy against money transfers through the website standwithukraine.com.ua.
Perhaps we are facing another financial fraud. But it can also be a deliberate sabotage from Russia in order to intercept the flow of donations that tens of thousands of Israelis want to make these days, in solidarity with Ukraine's struggle for freedom and independence.
There is information that unscrupulous people tried to collect donations in a similar way among the Ukrainian diaspora in the United States.
In Israel, there is an authoritative public organization Israeli Friends of Ukraine, which has been actively building bridges between Israel and Ukraine for the eighth year. This organization is now collecting all types of humanitarian aid and medicines for Ukraine, acting in coordination with the Ukrainian Embassy in Israel.
Text and photo: Shimon Briman (Israel).
