Many Ukrainian army and civilian militia units appear to lack or are running low on basic equipment such as tactical vests, helmets and simple medical supplies despite reports of pledges or delivery of millions of dollars of foreign military equipment, a scan of social media posts from the country indicates.
Instagram accounts show countless requests for financial support for the army.
“My father is fighting,” reads one post. “A lot of them out there don’t have vests or even basic ammunition. We need money for 30 vests, and we will report any hryvna (Ukranian currency) spent to you.”
Tetiana Sovgurt and Myron Jarosevich, Ukrainian ex-patriots who live in Chicago, said they already have spent and sent thousands of dollars of equipment so far.
“Vests cost $10,000 dollars; tickets from Poland to one refugee woman around $1,200, Sovgurt said. “We lost count of the money we sent directly to Ukraine’s army bank accounts. I can’t remember everything. Also, Myron is handling logistics for medical and humanitarian packages.”
Other also have been helping, including a Florida gunmaker, KelTec, who sent a $200,000 shipment of semiautomatic rifles to the Ukrainian resistance movement that already were paid for by a Ukrainian customer but went silent after Russia’s invasion.
About 400 Kevlar vests collected by the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America and the Ukrainian National Women’s League of America were destined for Ukraine until they were stolen from offices of the organizations in New York.
The United States vowed $800 million more in military assistance package earlier this week after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed a joint session of Congress pleading for more help. That was in addition to $200 million initial aid.
Ukraine’s national bank, which is collecting the donations for the army, has reported that out of the 12.2 billion hryvnas ($400 million) received since the start of the war, only 26 million hryvnas ($860,000) remains. It is asking for more.
Sovgurt’s son, who moved to the United States in 2014, is handling the research into best deals and finding people to assist. One site, Armored Republic, has been offering a “buy one donate one” promotion. He also has discovered requests for assistance in a Facebook group called “Ukrainians in Poland.” The country has welcomed more than 2 million refugees.
Ukrainian businesses are active in fundraising too. A high fashion shop run by Anton Belinskiy has raised money through his Instagram account for balaclavas and thermal underwear for soldiers fighting in the harsh winter of Ukraine.
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