Only 5 criminal cases involving the forgery, destruction, or replacement of VIN codes and other vehicle identification numbers were referred to court in Ukraine during the first nine months of 2026. This represents about 1% of the 599 offenses registered during this period, according to OpenDataBot, citing data from the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine.
In total, from 2020 through September 2026, 11,417 criminal offenses were registered in Ukraine under Article 290 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Of these, 7,152—or about 63%—remain on the docket. In nearly seven years, only 69 cases were sent to court—about 1% of the total number of recorded offenses.
According to OpenDataBot, in previous years, about 40% of such cases were closed for various reasons, including the absence of an incident or the lack of elements constituting a criminal offense. In 2026, one in five open cases was closed, and the number of active cases stands at 473.
At the same time, the number of registered offenses is increasing compared to last year. In the first nine months of 2026, 599 such cases were recorded, compared to 387 during the same period in 2025—a 22% increase.
The highest number of offenses related to the forgery, destruction, or alteration of vehicle identification numbers was recorded in Kyiv—169 cases, or 28% of the total. In the Dnipropetrovsk region, 114 cases (19%) were recorded, and in the Odesa region, 45 (8%). Thus, these three regions account for more than half of all offenses recorded over the nine-month period.
Under Article 290 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, the destruction, forgery, or replacement of a vehicle’s identification number is punishable by a fine ranging from 2,550 to 4,250 UAH, community service for up to two years, probation, or restriction of liberty for up to three years.
Source: OpenDataBot.
