Our expert answers your questions about Ukraine

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.

The site looks very suspicious. There are no such direct bus services, as this involves crossing the front line, which is impossible. So this is already enough to not trust this site. Here is an example of a real site, where bus tickets in Ukraine can be booked.

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.

The first step is to talk to this person directly via something like Skype, WhatsApp, etc. with a camera turned on. There is internet there. A real person can afford to get a cheap smartphone/notebook, which can be used to communicate with anyone in the world for free.

As of February 2024, there are regular buses running from Donetsk to Rostov-on-Don, Russia (1,250 Rubles or 14 USD). From Rostov-on-Don, there are regular trains and buses running to Sochi (2,000-3,000 Rubles or 22-35 USD). From Sochi, there are regular flights to Istanbul - 10,000-14,000 Rubles (108-150 USD). Of course, we strongly recommend not to send any help before you meet the person. The costs are not high, especially if you are going to reimburse these expenses after the meeting.

Otherwise, you will most likely be scammed. This is especially true for contacts with those who claim to be living on Russian-controlled territory of Ukraine. In this case, according to our experience, the chance that you are dealing with scammers is close to 100%.

As of February 2024, Kostyantynivka is controlled by the Ukrainian officials, although it is located very close to the frontline. It means that there are regular buses running from this city to other parts of Ukraine. Infobus site is fine, here is its schedule of Kostyantynivka-Warsaw buses (1-2 transfers).

Our advice is not to send any help before you actually meet the person. As you can see the ticket price is relatively low (50+ Euro), a Polish visa is not required, if the person has a valid bio-metric international passport (20-40 USD to get one). So it should not be a problem for a real person to meet you in Poland, especially if you help afterwards.

A fake person (scammer) will try to get as much money out of you as possible under the pretext of buying tickets, passport, insurance, bribes, etc. and of course the scammer is not going to go anywhere, but will provide reasons why it hasn't worked out and why a little more help is needed for one reason or another.

Yes, this site doesn't look reliable, received several requests mentioning it before. The most important thing is that there are no buses running from Donetsk, controlled by Russia at the moment, to other parts of Ukraine, controlled by the Ukrainian government, because it means to cross the front line. Anyone telling you that it is possible is deceiving you.

The only relatively safe way for a real person to leave Donetsk is to go to Russia at first, to Rostov-on-Don, for example. From there it is possible to go to the Baltic countries or Turkey and from there to Poland.

I personally would not trust anyone who claims that she is living in parts of Ukraine controlled by Russia, the chance that she is a scammer is very close to 100% in my opinion.

As of December 2023, Donetsk is controlled by Russia, which means there are no direct transport links between this city and Poland because it means to cross the frontline and there are no checkpoints at the frontline, which civilians can use. The only way for a real person from Donetsk to get to Poland, is to go by bus to Rostov-on-Don, from there fly to Istanbul and from Istanbul to Poland.

The site mentioned in your request is very suspicious with minimal contact and other information, so I would not trust it. If you check real sites where bus tickets can be booked in Ukraine, if you try to book a bus ticket, for example, from Donetsk to Kyiv, it says "Routes not found", which is true.

As we receive similar requests all the time, our advice is to avoid sending any help to anyone claiming living in parts of Ukraine controlled by Russia at the moment. The chance that you are talking to scammers is close to 100%.

Yes, it is possible, tickets can be booked here.

As of October 2023, there is no direct bus or any other transport link between Donetsk and Warsaw. The only relatively safe way to leave Donetsk is to take a bus, for example, to Rostov-on-Don, Russia. From Russia it is possible to get to Turkey and from there to Warsaw. A Ukrainian citizen can also return from Russia to Ukraine, since on August 5, 2023, a checkpoint was opened on the Ukrainian-Russian border in Sumy Oblast.

You should avoid sending any help to a person in Ukraine, especially in parts of Ukraine controlled by Russia, before you are absolutely sure that this person is real. Otherwise you are doing it at your risk.

There are regular buses running from Kharkiv to Warsaw (via Kyiv), the price is about 60 USD (so the price of 365 EUR is not true), check this timetable. The trip is relatively safe as the front line is not near Kharkiv at the moment. Please be very careful and don't send any help to any person in Ukraine before you are absolutely sure that this person is real.

There are regular trains and buses running from Dnipro to Lviv, the ticket price is about 25 USD. And here is the timetable of buses running from Lviv to Krakow, about 15 USD. Our advice is not to send any help to a person in Ukraine before you are absolutely sure that this person is real.

There are regular buses running from Lviv to Warsaw and back. The process of going through border control can take several hours.

The price of an international bio-metric passport in Ukraine is about 20-40 USD and usually it takes 7-20 working days to get it, delays of up to several weeks are also possible at the moment. There are direct buses running from Kharkiv to Warsaw, Poland, the price is about 60 USD per ticket. Citizens of Ukraine need visas to enter the United States, and the US embassy in Ukraine does not provide such services now.

As we receive similar requests almost every day, our advice is not to send any help to a person in Ukraine before you are absolutely sure that this person is real. The first step is to talk to this person directly, multiple times via something like Skype, Facebook, WhatsApp, etc. with a webcam turned on. There is internet in Ukraine. No photos can be trusted. Otherwise you are doing it at your risk.

Yes, trains can be irregular due to power problems. There are regular buses running from Kyiv to Warsaw.

As of November 2022, there are no direct buses/trains between Luhansk and Kyiv. The only relatively safe way is to go from Luhansk to Russia and from there through the Baltic states the person can return to Ukraine.

It is not recommended to send any help to a person in Ukraine, especially in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, before you are absolutely sure that this person is real (at least have regular video communication). Otherwise you are doing it at your risk and most likely will be scammed.

Yes, check the following schedule of buses running from Warsaw to Kyiv.

There are no direct buses or trains running from Donetsk to Kyiv/Lviv. So at first the person should go from Donetsk to Russia, there are regular buses running to Rostov-on-Don. From there, to get back to Ukraine is possible through the Baltic countries or Poland.

There are direct buses running from Odesa to Warsaw, the trip takes about 24 hours and the ticket price is about 50 USD.

It is not true. There are regular buses running from Krasnodon to Kharkiv, the price is about 25-30 USD. You should not send anything before your meeting, a real person can afford this trip and you will be able to help afterwards anyway.

There are regular buses running from Severodonetsk to Kharkiv, the price is about 9-14 USD. As we receive similar requests almost every day, our advice is not to send any help to a person in Ukraine before you are absolutely sure that this person is real. At least talk to this person several times via something like Skype with a webcam turned on. After it, you can move to the next step - meeting in Kyiv, a real person can afford this trip and you will be able to help afterwards anyway. Otherwise you are doing it on your risk.

You should go from Kyiv to Uman by bus, there is a number of daily buses available, the trip takes about 3 hours, the price is about 8-10 USD. Check this timetable of Kyiv-Uman buses.

The following schedule of buses running from Melitopol to Berdyansk will probably be useful. The following service can be used to translate the sites from Russian.

There is no train running from Sumy to Dnepropetrovsk, here is the schedule of Sumy bus station and there are several buses on Sumy-Dnepropetrovsk route. The trip takes about 5-6 hours. You can translate the sites from Russian/Ukrainian by using the following service.

I found that there is daily bus running from Nikolaev to Uman. The bus leaves Nikolaev at 09:20 local time and arrives to Uman at 16:50. Unfortunately I don't have the information about the exact fare but it is somewhere about 10-20 USD.

I found the schedule of the buses running from Borispol to Uman. This service to translate it from Russian.

According to the schedule from Berdyansk bus station site there are regular buses running to Melitopol (departure at 7:55; 8:40; 9:50; 12:50; 16:10; 17:00 local time). No buses to Simferopol but there is one to Sevastopol located not so far away (departure at 6:15). There are also several buses going to other cities of Crimea available. The following service to translate from Russian.