A variety of homegrown initiatives led by civic groups, locals and expatriates have sprung up to help supply Ukrainian servicemen with much-needed aid, ranging from safety gear to battlefield first aid kits. Russia’s unprovoked war in Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts has killed more than 900 servicemen as well as some 2,000 civilians.
Nations have also provided non-lethal aid. The latest assistance came on Sept. 3 when Lithuania delivered six tons of non-lethal aid, including medical equipment.
The following are the Kyiv Post picks of some trusted sources that help the Ukrainian military.
Wings of Phoenix
Mykolayiv native entrepreneur Yuriy Biryukov founded the Wings of the Phoenix Facebook page and non-profit organization to purchase protective gear. He and his team of nearly 30 volunteers have raised more than Hr 10 million all over the world, which they use to buy bulletproof vests, helmets and ballistic eyewear. Fundraising efforts also went towards repairing a damaged AN-26 transport plane and to build a warehouse to store technical equipment in Mykolayiv. Six months into the Russian war against Ukraine, Biryukov was named as presidential adviser for his “consistent and efficient volunteer work.”
How to donate
PayPal: [email protected] (one should write “advertising” in the description field of the transaction)
Bank transfer via SWIFT (dollar account):
Beneficiary: biriukov iurii
Account: 5167987204531228
Bank of beneficiary: privatbank
Swift code: pbanua2x
Intermediary bank: jp morgan chase bank
Swift code: chasus33
Come Back Alive
Kyiv native Vitaliy Deyneha started this fundraising project in late June. The team focused mostly on assisting the 95th airmobile brigade and the 80th Airborne Brigade because “these are the units that carry out the most demanding tasks and are located in the maximum-risk zone,” reads the group’s description. Money raised has been used to buy thermal imagers, night vision goggles, bulletproof vests, and blood-clotting medicine. The initiative regularly updates donors on how and where money is spent.
How to donate
PayPal: [email protected]
Western Union: Vitaliy Deynega +38050-4444-336.
Bank transfer via SWIFT (dollar account)
Beneficiary: Romah Tatyana Sergeevna
Account: 5168757256199292
Bank of beneficiary: privatbank
Swift code: pbanua2x
Intermediary bank: Commerzbank AG Frankfurt am Main Germany
SWIFTcode: CHASUS33
Correspondent account: 001
Bulava
Bulava group provides equipment to a number of battalions, including 11th Territorial Defense Battalion Kyivska Rus, 30th Separate Mechanized Brigade and 128th Separate Guards Mechanized Brigade. Olga Lebedieva, the group’s coordinator, now spends most of her time helping out soldiers. “I know what they need and we all deliver the equipment ourselves, so we can be sure they have everything,” Lebedieva explains. The group includes around 20 volunteers. Currently, money is needed to buy military portable radio and headsets, binoculars, monocles and night vision devices.
How to donate:
PayPal for Europe & USA: [email protected]
PayPal for Ukraine: [email protected]
PrivatBank card: 5168757271974984 (Maxim Vislinskiy)
Army SOS
Facebook group Army SOS provides Ukrainian servicemen with binoculars, bulletproof vests, medicine and offer photographic reports of how money is spent. The team includes Ukraine-based volunteers as well as American, British and Lithuanian citizens.
How to donate:
Western Union, recipient Oleksii Savchenko, Kyiv, Ukraine, passport ЕЕ321055, [email protected].
MoneyGram, recipient Oleksii Savchenko, Kyiv, Ukraine, passport ЕЕ321055, [email protected].
ATO Sister of Mercy/Kharkiv
www.facebook.com/pages/Сестра-милосердия-АТО-Харьков
The heart and soul of the project, Kharkiv resident Yaryna Chagovets, launched the initiative to help Ukraine’s soldiers who had have wounded during the six-month war in the country’s east. Chagovets was a EuroMaidan Revolution volunteer in Kharkiv and now spends most of her time collecting clothes, medicine and food for the injured in the city’s hospitals. The group’s Facebook page is regularly updated with the changing needs of the effort. According to the latest reports, mobile phones and fresh clothing are among the most needed items.
How to donate:
PayPal: [email protected]
Bank transfer via SWIFT (dollar account)
Beneficiary: Yaryna Chagovets
Individual text number: 2892802169
Account number:26250008838294
Beneficiary`s bank: Public Joint Stock Company “UkrSibbank”
SWIFT code: KHABUA2K
BNP PARIBAS U.S.A – New Branch
New York, USA
SWIFT: BNPAUS3N
Azov Battalion
https://www.facebook.com/azov.batalion/timeline
Azov Battalion is a part of police troops. Based in southern Donetsk Oblast, it is mostly engaged in the fight for Mariupol.
How to donate:
MoneyGram or Western Union:
Moskalets Evgen, +38 063 198 35 79
Donbas Battalion
https://www.facebook.com/ teroboronaDonbass?fref=ts
Donbas Battalion is special unit of the police that takes active part in Ukraine’s anti-terrorist operation. The volunteers supporting the battalion keep the donors up to date with the needs of the fighters on their Facebook page.
How to donate:
Privat Bank account:
4405885822253933
EuroArmyMaydan
www.ukrarmy.org
The charity fund EuroArmyMaydan has over 6,000 volunteers across Ukraine. Created in March after the first signs of Russia’s invasion of Crimea, the initiative says over 100 various projects have been implemented. Ammunition, portable radios, bulletproof vests, tents, and medicine have been purchased, according to the group. Team members also helped Ukrainian military families leave Russia-occupied Crimea.
“The assistance must be timely, targeted and high-quality. Sometimes our tasks are very complicated, sometimes they are almost impossible. But God has no other hands except our own,” reads the description of the group.
How to donate:
Bank transfer via SWIFT (dollar account)
Account: 26004052734648 (USD)
Beneficiary: Charitable fund HELP THE ARMY OF UKRAINE
Beneficiary`s bank: COMMERCIAL BANK PRIVATBANK
Swift: PBANUA2X
Iban: UA683007110000026004052734648
Bank-correspondent: JP MORGAN CHASE BANK
Swift: CHASUS33
Corr. account: 001-1-000080
Ukrainian Freedom Fund
Ukrainian and international businesspeople joined efforts and created Ukraine the Freedom Fund to provide non-lethal aid to the war zone. One of the group’s co-founders, Andrew Bain, who served with the U.S. Marines in Iraq as a liaison to an Ukrainian army unit, said his friends from the Ukrainian military “lacked the most basic things.”
It was a signal to launch the initiative.
“Also my friends from the business community were asking how to help and whom to donate,” Bain explained. The group has raised around $217,614 since April for army supplies as of Sept. 1.
It also has received more than $170,000 in donations worldwide to purchase body armor, medicine, helmets, and first aid kits for Ukrainian military units. UFF is endorsed by the National Security and Defense Council as well as the U.S. Ukraine Business Council and the EU Ukraine Business Council.
How to donate:
Bank transfer via SWIFT (dollar account)
# 2600 8 008096 011
Branch “CIB” PJSC «CREDIT AGRICOLE BANK», Kyiv, Code of Bank 300379
SWIFT code: AGRIUAUKCIB
Bank’s address: 23a, Volodymyrska St., Kyiv, 01001, Ukraine
Correspondent bank of CBU:
JPMorganChaseBank, N.A.,
SWIFTcode: CHASUS33
Acc. No.: 464651053
# 2600 0 008096 901
Kyiv Post staff writer Olena Goncharova can be reached at [email protected]
