Our expert answers your questions about Ukraine

As of November 2024, the state fees to issue a Ukrainian biometric international passport are 958 UAH (Ukrainian Hryvnias) or about 23 USD (20 working days) or 1,598 UAH or 38 USD (7 working days).

As you know, Donetsk is controlled by Russia at the moment. This means that there are no direct transport links between this city and other parts of Ukraine controlled by the Ukrainian government because it means to cross the frontline, which is not possible. There are no checkpoints for civilians, nobody can be "bribed" as it is a very active war zone and every car close to the frontline is considered a target by both sides.

There are several fake sites where, for example, "bus tickets from Donetsk to Warsaw" can be "booked", but there are no such buses in reality. The same about taxis, already received similar requests, some even with badly photoshopped taxi tickets from Donetsk to Lviv.

The only regular buses available to Donetsk residents are running to Russia, for example, to Rostov-on-Don. And from Russia it is possible to travel to Turkey, for example. As we receive similar requests almost every day, our advice is not to send any help to a person in Ukraine, especially in parts of Ukraine controlled by Russia (in this case, in our experience, the chance that this "person" is a scammer is close to 100%), before you are absolutely sure that this person is real.

This is a fake site created to scam foreigners. We have received several requests mentioning it this year. It offers "direct" buses running, for example, from Donetsk to Kyiv or Mariupol to Warsaw. In reality, the front line can't be crossed by civilians, there are no direct transport links between parts of Ukraine controlled by Russia and the rest of Ukraine.

You should contact the charitable foundation "Happy Child" located in Zaporizhzhia. They should have the latest info about contacts of Ukrainian orphanages.

As of November 2024, there are regular buses running from Donetsk to Rostov-on-Don, the price is about 14 USD. From Rostov-on-Don, there are buses running to Istanbul, the price is about 90 USD. Our advice is not to send any help to a person in Ukraine, especially in parts of Ukraine controlled by Russia (in this case, in our experience, the chance that this "person" is a scammer is close to 100%), before you are absolutely sure that this person is real.

Problems may arise if you travel by plane, so it may be worth choosing another way of travel. And as soon as you have time, be sure to get a new Ukrainian international passport to avoid any possible problems.

As of October 28, 2024, there are no direct transport links between parts of Ukraine controlled by Russia and other parts of Ukraine controlled by the Ukrainian government because it means to cross the frontline, which is not possible.

There are no checkpoints for civilians, nobody can be "bribed" as it is a very active war zone and every car close to the frontline is considered a target by both sides. There are several fake sites where, for example, "bus tickets from Donetsk to Warsaw" can be "booked", but there are no such buses in reality. The same about taxis.

People living there can go by regular buses to Russia, for example, to Rostov-on-Don. And from Russia it is possible to get to Turkey. It is not possible to return from Russia to Ukraine because the border is closed.

As we receive similar requests almost every day, our advice is not to send any help to a person in Ukraine, especially in parts of Ukraine controlled by Russia (in this case, in our experience, the chance that this "person" is a scammer is close to 100%), before you are absolutely sure that this person is real.

You can get a certificate for return to Ukraine via the embassy of Ukraine to the UK. Contact them directly to get the latest info about it.

You can think about sending a good portable charger (power bank), check this article to get some info. Before sending help to any person in Ukraine, you should be completely sure that this person is real. Otherwise, you act at your own risk, as unfortunately there are a lot of scammers, especially if it is about a person from the territory controlled by Russia (in this case, the chance that this is a scammer is close to 100%).

As of October 2024, the average monthly salary in Ukraine is in the range of about 400-500 USD per month. So I think that the sum of about 50 USD would be just right as a nice birthday gift. And of course this only applies to a person you know and have met in person, and not just communicated with online, since in this case the chance that you are talking to a scammer is very high.