Ukraine

Police shut down fraudulent Covid-19 documents operation in Zakarpattia Oblast

1 min read
Police shut down fraudulent Covid-19 documents operation in Zakarpattia Oblast
(dpsu.gov.ua)

Law enforcement arrested five people for selling fake negative PCR tests, Ukrainian and Slovakian vaccine passports on Nov. 26 in Zakarpattia Oblast.

Amongst confiscated materials were computers that contained personal information about clients that used the services. According to the data, nearly 4,500 individual fake Covid-19 documents were created and entered into the government app Diia.

Police are currently investigating to determine if government workers were involved in entering fake vaccination data into the Diia database.

The group used social media and messenger apps to advertise the services and connect with potential clients. The price ranged from $19-93.

Fake vaccination certificates are so ubiquitous that a hospital in Uzhhorod, the regional capital of western Zakarpattia Oblast, started offering anonymous vaccination to people who got fake certificates but later changed their mind, as well as those with religious or family objections to vaccines.

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Asami Terajima

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Asami Terajima is a reporter at the Kyiv Independent covering Ukrainian military affairs and front-line developments. She is the co-author of the weekly War Notes newsletter. She previously worked as a business reporter for the Kyiv Post, focusing on international trade, infrastructure, investment, and energy. Originally from Japan, Terajima moved to Ukraine during childhood and completed her bachelor's degree in Business Administration in the U.S. She is the winner of the Thomson Reuters Foundation's Kurt Schork Award in International Journalism 2023 (Local Reporter category) and the George Weidenfeld Prize, awarded as part of Germany's Axel Springer Prize 2023. She was also featured on the Media Development Foundation's 2023 "25 under 25: Young and Bold" list of emerging media makers in Ukraine. She is among the finalists for the U.K.'s One World Media Award 2026 in the Print category and the French Bayeux Calvados-Normandy award 2025 for war correspondents in the Young Reporter category.

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