This study examines how Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine affected APCs, publishing patterns, and citation impact of Gold OA articles authored by Ukrainian scholars between 2020 and 2023. Data from Scopus covers articles published before (2020-2021) and after (2022-2023) the war's onset. Statistical analysis revealed a small but significant correlation between APC amounts and citation impact, though the effect size was minimal, suggesting higher APCs did not substantially boost citations. APC waivers offered by major publishers such as Springer and Elsevier since 2022 have led to only a slight increase in articles authored solely by Ukrainian scholars in their journals. Despite these waivers, MDPI and Aluna Publishing House maintained the largest shares of such publications, likely due to low rejection rates, fast publication, and - in Aluna's case - reduced APCs for Ukrainian authors. Between 2020 and 2023, the number of articles authored solely by Ukrainian scholars in foreign journals fell by 25.7%, and total APC spending declined by 24.6%, from EUR 1.24 million to EUR 0.93 million. Medicine accounted for the largest share of both articles and APC expenditure, with the majority published in Aluna journals. Ensuring genuine equity in scholarly communication requires alternative publishing models beyond APC-based Gold OA, guaranteeing equal opportunities to publish regardless of institutional or national affiliation. Reform must also address evaluation systems that prioritise output metrics over research quality and academic cultures that favour speed and APC payments over rigour, even when high-quality, no-cost publishing options are available.

This study examines how Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine affected APCs, publishing patterns, and citation impact of Gold OA articles authored by Ukrainian scholars between 2020 and 2023. Data from Scopus covers articles published before (2020-2021) and after (2022-2023) the war's onset. Statistical analysis revealed a small but significant correlation between APC amounts and citation impact, though the effect size was minimal, suggesting higher APCs did not substantially boost citations. APC waivers offered by major publishers such as Springer and Elsevier since 2022 have led to only a slight increase in articles authored solely by Ukrainian scholars in their journals. Despite these waivers, MDPI and Aluna Publishing House maintained the largest shares of such publications, likely due to low rejection rates, fast publication, and - in Aluna's case - reduced APCs for Ukrainian authors. Between 2020 and 2023, the number of articles authored solely by Ukrainian scholars in foreign journals fell by 25.7%, and total APC spending declined by 24.6%, from EUR 1.24 million to EUR 0.93 million. Medicine accounted for the largest share of both articles and APC expenditure, with the majority published in Aluna journals. Ensuring genuine equity in scholarly communication requires alternative publishing models beyond APC-based Gold OA, guaranteeing equal opportunities to publish regardless of institutional or national affiliation. Reform must also address evaluation systems that prioritise output metrics over research quality and academic cultures that favour speed and APC payments over rigour, even when high-quality, no-cost publishing options are available.