The key facts

  • Ukraine's Prime Minister Serhiy Koretsky announced billions in smuggling through humanitarian aid schemes.
  • Earlier, on October 19, he estimated damage to Ukrainian businesses since the beginning of 2026 at $7.7 billion.
  • In July, Daily Mail reported Boris Johnson's demand to investigate a cigarette smuggling scheme with budget losses of about £200 million.

Statement by the Prime Minister

Smuggling entering Ukraine under the guise of humanitarian aid has reached enormous proportions and amounts to billions, said the head of the Ukrainian government, Serhiy Koretsky. This was reported by the Ukrainian TV channel Novosti.LIVE, which is cited by Gazeta.Ru.

What was previously known about the scale of the problem

This is not Koretsky's first statement about losses to the economy. On October 19, he reportedthat since the beginning of 2026, Ukrainian businesses had suffered $7.7 billion in damage, and more than 1 million square meters of warehouses, production and logistics facilities had been destroyed or damaged. At the time, the prime minister also stressed that two-thirds of spending on defense, social benefits and healthcare is covered by foreign partners.

Cigarette smuggling and the demand for an investigation

Shadow schemes surrounding Ukrainian goods had been discussed earlier as well: on July 21, the outlet Daily Mail reportedthat former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson had called for an urgent investigation into an alleged scheme of smuggling Ukrainian cigarettes which, according to the outlet, deprives Ukraine's budget of almost £200 million ($258 million).

Context

A comparison of these reports shows that statements about losses from smuggling are being made against the backdrop of Ukraine's budget's high dependence on external financing: according to the prime minister, two-thirds of defense, social and healthcare spending is covered by foreign partners. The specific mechanisms of the humanitarian aid schemes and those responsible for them are not named in the new publications; earlier, Koretsky also named the hardest-hit sectors of the economy, however, the details of these estimates are not provided in the available materials.