Over UAH 275 Million for Come Back Alive and Almost UAH 52 Million for Sternenko Community: How Charitable Foundations Use Funds from Plea Agreements in HACC Cases

In response to requests from TI Ukraine, the Come Back Alive and Sternenko Community charitable foundations shared information on the funds they have received under plea agreements in HACC cases. 

According to their responses, the Come Back Alive Foundation received more than UAH 275 million between 2024 and October 15, 2026. The Sternenko Community Foundation, in turn, received almost UAH 52 million in 2025 and the first three quarters of 2026. Both organizations once again emphasized that these funds are not used for their own administrative needs and that reports on how the funds are spent are available on their websites.

We have previously examined in detail the issues surrounding the funds specified in plea agreement verdicts, and verifying how donations to the army are used was one of them.

Below is a detailed breakdown of how the two foundations have allocated these funds.

Come Back Alive

According to the foundation, as of October 15, 2026, it had received more than UAH 275 million (UAH 275,412,872.21) under plea agreements.

By period, the receipts were as follows:

• 2024: UAH 32,000,000.00;
• 2025: UAH 67,540,741.00;
• January 1 to October 15, 2026: UAH 175,872,131.21.

The foundation also stated in its response that it had not received any property, property rights, or crypto assets in execution of such agreements.

On the use of the money, Come Back Alive described separately the aid already delivered and the procurement still underway.

According to the foundation, UAH 214,854,555.07 was spent on procuring equipment and other supplies and handing them over to the military in three areas:

• UAH 81,718,129.61 to meet the needs of Army Aviation units of the Land Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine;
• UAH 12,729,795.00 to meet the needs of units of the 19th Army Corps of the Land Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine;
• UAH 120,406,630.46 to implement the DRONEFALL project.

Another UAH 60,558,317.14 was still being spent as of October 15. Of this amount, UAH 4.36 million is going toward procurement for Army Aviation and UAH 56.2 million toward funding DRONEFALL. Once the procurement is completed, the aid is handed over, and the paperwork is finalized, the foundation will publish the relevant reports.

In its response, Come Back Alive also cited data from the units participating in DRONEFALL, according to which 499 Russian reconnaissance and strike UAVs had been shot down using the equipment provided.

Sternenko Community

The Sternenko Community Foundation reported receiving funds in execution of agreements in five criminal cases. In total, these amounted to UAH 51 million and 20,021 USDT. The USDT was valued at UAH 888,932.49 at the exchange rate on the date it was credited. As a result, the total receipts amounted to almost UAH 52 million (UAH 51,888,932.49) in hryvnia equivalent.

In its response, the foundation provided the following breakdown of receipts:

• 2025: UAH 49 million under three HACC decisions; 
• first three quarters of 2026: UAH 2 million and 20,021 USDT under two HACC decisions.

The foundation explained that it received no funds in 2023–2024 because it was registered as a legal entity only on January 15, 2025.

The funds received under the agreements were spent in full on procuring equipment for the Defense Forces, with the following breakdown of expenditures:

• 1,930 Hornet FPV drones of various modifications, worth a total of UAH 49,376,680.00 (from the case concerning the procurement of PCR tests for a Ukrzaliznytsia branch, the case against one of the organizers of the scheme to misappropriate the seized “Kurchenko’s oil products,” and the case against an accomplice in the misappropriation of almost 920 hectares of land belonging to the state enterprise Research Farm Dmytrivka);
• 25 Sting R4 UAVs with digital thermal imaging cameras, worth a total of UAH 2,090,000.00 (the case of Oleksii Statnyk, former director of a Ukrzaliznytsia branch);
• one Mavka unmanned aircraft system (digital, daytime version), worth a total of UAH 1,983,400.00 (the case against the former director of the state enterprise Poltava Region Local Roads Agency).

The foundation also explained why the total value of the aid, UAH 53.45 million, exceeds the UAH 51.89 million received under the agreements. The difference of approximately UAH 1.56 million was covered by other charitable donations.

Sternenko Community stated that it will publish reporting materials once the procurement is completed, the property is handed over, and the supporting documents are finalized.

How to track the use of funds

In their responses, the foundations provided links to their public reporting resources. Come Back Alive referred to its reporting section, materials on its website, and its social media posts. According to the foundation, these contain information on the contributions it receives and how they are used, including receipts under plea agreements. 

Sternenko Community provided a link to its own reporting section. Its website features daily reports on drone deliveries, reports on other property handed over, and calendar-based reporting.

As we can see, the data obtained on receipts from plea agreements and their use demonstrate the transparency and reliability of the Come Back Alive and Sternenko Community charitable foundations. This once again underscores that, despite public concerns and doubts about the misuse of funds received under plea agreements, donations to the army, including through private charitable foundations, are an important condition of plea agreements, given the context in which the criminal justice system currently operates. 

According to the SAPO, no cases of intentional non-compliance with plea agreements have been identified so far, and no convicted person has been held liable for breaching the terms of an agreement. Compliance is confirmed by payment documents, which are submitted to the court and the prosecutor and added to the case file. In other words, the transfer of funds is verified, but solely by the SAPO. 

At the same time, public communication about how these specific plea agreement funds are spent remains rather weak, and both the prosecution and the foundations should probably address this. If the public wants reporting specifically on funds from HACC plea agreement verdicts, foundations and fundraising platforms, both state and private, should regularly publish such detailed information on exactly what the funds from these verdicts were spent on. This would help clarify which of the army’s needs are being met through donations and put an end to any doubts about how these funds are spent.