Yle: Famous Finnish volunteer spent money for Ukraine on parking fines
The founder of the Finnish volunteer group Nordic Combat Medics, which collected donations to help Ukraine, spent some of the money on personal needs, including paying parking fines, according to a Yle investigation.
The organization, founded in 2022, has repeatedly appeared in the media as an example of international support for Ukraine.
At the same time, according to the television company, former members and partners of the group expressed doubts about the transparency of the use of money raised through charity campaigns.
According to Yle, Nordic Combat Medics did not have a valid license for public fundraising since January 2023, and donations were transferred to the personal account of the organization's founder, Tina Soini.
According to the television company, Soini refused to provide the group's employees or the police with complete information about her income and expenses because it concerned "her personal bank account."
The police began an investigation, but due to the lack of direct evidence of embezzlement, the case was closed.
The Association of Ukrainians in Finland, a key partner of the volunteers, has terminated cooperation with Nordic Combat Medics due to a lack of reports on how and where the team worked in Ukraine.
Yle discovered that at least 12 parking fines, totaling about 800 euros, were paid from Soini's personal account, to which money was transferred for Ukraine.
After returning from the last mission in Ukraine in the fall of 2024, some of the equipment disappeared. This included equipment worth about 7,000 euros, including helmets and Starlink.
Former members of the group accuse Soyni of embezzlement. Instead, she shifts the blame to other volunteers and refuses to give a public explanation.
Despite the accusations, Soini, who is currently likely outside Finland, continues to collect donations via Instagram.
The group's page claims that it is part of the Ukrainian organization Hospitallers, but the organization itself denies this and states that they have not cooperated with Nordic Combat Medics since 2023.
Former volunteers say they initially believed in Tina Sojny's good intentions, but over time they became disillusioned. Some of them still have debts related to their participation in missions in Ukraine.
- Since the start of the full-scale invasion, Ukraine has paid an advance of around $770 million to foreign intermediaries for weapons and ammunition that were never delivered, according to a Financial Times investigation.
