People are posting Russian tanks for sale on eBay. Some claim to be selling actual Russian tanks commandeered by Ukrainian fighting forces. Those claims, however hyped by the internet, do not appear to be legitimate.
Russia invaded Ukraine late last month. The international community has rallied around Ukraine since Russia attacked.
The war has attracted both humanitarians and opportunists.
The Russian tanks people posted for sale on eBay in recent days have swiftly captured attention and bids. A screenshot of a listing for a “used Russian T-72 tank” that promised it was “fully functional” shows bids reached $400,000. The listing was first flagged by @YourAnonNews
Russia does use T-72 tanks. In November, Insider described the model as the “backbone” of the Russian army.
It appears that eBay has since removed that T-72 tank listing, which was in the category for military vehicles. There are no tanks for sale in that category as of this writing.
Other Russian tanks are currently posted on the site. The photos are of real tanks and appear to use the same image from the screenshot @YourAnonNews tweeted, but the listings are in the toys category.
Some seem to be bidding as if the toy Russian tanks are real, however. In a matter of minutes on Thursday morning, bids on one tank hosted on British eBay soared from 400 to more than 2,000 pounds.
The listing says that the proceeds will go “to help the fight in Ukraine.” One image includes the caption, “pickup only in person from Ukraine.”
Via direct message on eBay, the seller, pud21ek21_5, told the Daily Dot that they plan to give the funds to Ukrainian refugees in Poland.
They said they specifically plan to donate the proceeds to the Poland Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is coordinating humanitarian aid for Ukrainians fleeing the war. Poland has refugee shelters for the thousands of Ukrainians pouring into the country.
Since the fighting began, 1 million Ukrainians have reportedly fled to neighboring countries such as Poland.
“I would like to help the Ukrainians somehow, even in this way. Any help is good and everything is needed there now,” the tank seller said.
The seller, who’s based in the United Kingdom, also said that they have a lot of Ukrainian friends. They declined to give their name.
The bidding history shows that they posted the toy tank early Thursday morning for 100 pounds. As of this writing, the bid is more than 6,000 pounds (or roughly $8,000).
The seller told the Daily Dot that eBay had already removed two tank auctions for reasons they don’t understand.
“It’s a toy, not a real tank,” they said. They didn’t respond when asked whether they’d posted the $400,000 tank, though given that the bidding price for that tank was in U.S. dollars, it’s possible someone else posted it.
Others are now claiming to be selling Russian tanks on eBay. They also claim to be funding the war effort in Ukraine.
The Daily Dot found a tank on eBay posted by a seller based in Sri Lanka. The tank, which is also in the toys category, supposedly ships from China.
The listing appears to use the same images as the one from the United Kingdom. The captions are also almost the same.
The asking price for that tank is currently $99.