Corruption scandal in Ukraine's 'International Legion:' Why an Australian TV star is accused of stealing millions

"Few Russians or Ukrainians will likely have heard of ‘The Block’. It's an Australian reality show in which couples compete against each other to renovate homes and sell them at auction for the highest possible price. This may have provided the perfect cover for Emese Fajk, a participant who fled the land Down Under after she attempted to buy a renovated property at great expense using fake bank slips, to join Kiev’s International Legion as its official spokesperson. 

Fajk was first publicly linked to the group in July 2022. To the extent the mainstream media has acknowledged its spokesperson’s criminal past before, it is in the context of her work for the armed forces offering her a chance at “redemption.” That opportunity, if it ever existed in the first place, seems well and truly spent, given that she – known in Kiev under the callsign ‘Mockingjay’ – is now being investigated for fraud by authorities in the East European city. 

She was reportedly involved in the disappearance of a “massive” $2.5 million US shipment of medical supplies, and siphoning international donations intended for Kiev’s war effort.The medical supplies – which included painkillers, such as the deadly opioid fentanyl – arrived in late October, but never made it to the frontline..... the “large amounts” of money donated to the Legion, which were “confiscated by Mockingjay and sent to places unknown.” Since Fajk joined in April 2022, the group has relied on two fundraising organizations, both set up and solely controlled by her, including the Civil Front, which is based in Norway. " RT