Lancaster University Student Union suspends Ukrainian society for buying drones for troops at war
Two UK university student unions have suspended their Ukrainian societies as they probe if they breached charity rules to buy drones that were later sent to support troops fighting Russian soldiers.
The unions at Lancaster University and University College London suspended the societies after becoming aware of the purchases, which were made last year, arguing they were a
potential breach of UK charity laws.
Both universities’ student unions are UK-registered charities and governed by the Charity Commission, which regulates the use of funds and assets, as well as rules around fundraising.
According to the watchdog’s rules, “providing aid or military supplies to any foreign armed force is not a charitable purpose, and no charity can legally undertake such activity”.
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, both sides have used drones for aerial surveillance, cover and long-range attacks.
The student unions’ investigations, which are both still live, are looking into whether the purchases broke the commission’s rules.
In a post on social media site Instagram last summer, Lancaster University’s society celebrated having raised more than £20,000 to support Ukraine, over half of which was used to
purchase drones. The caption accompanying the post said “the full list of purchased items” included “three DJI Mavic 3 Drones (£3930)” and “Drone parts for territorial defence forces
(£2150)”.
A LUSU spokesman said: “LUSU has just been made aware of allegations concerning the activities of the Lancaster University Ukrainian Society.
"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, whilst we undertake this urgent investigation.
"We can say that the society has not received any funding from the students’ union.”
Lancaster University’s Ukrainian Society said its “fundraising activities have always been strictly humanitarian. "We have never made any announcements or posts regarding fundraising directed at military targets.” “Any social media content that might be interpreted as dual-use items was exclusively related to the personal initiatives of individual members of our society, not official society fundraising activities,” it added.
Lancaster University said it took “a close and supportive interest” in the work of the student union and “fully expect their own regulations to be adhered to. As such, we support their action to suspend the society and investigate.”