Ukrainian officials and private companies are crowdfunding donations to bring in money, small weapons, and military equipment to use in their country's fight against Russia, netting supplies that are not part of state-sponsored arms shipments.
The effort, being made online to companies and citizens in other countries, is bringing in millions of dollars in donations, as well as military-grade equipment, and even hobby-shop type drones that are being retrofitted to carry grenades in battle against Russia, reports The New York Times.
Chad Kapper, an American entrepreneur who has delivered some of the drones to Ukraine, said he acted after speaking with a racing drone friend in Ukraine.
"I said 'Listen, what do you guys need if you need anything? You know, can we supply parts or whatever?'" said Kapper, founder of a racing drone company. "And he said, 'Yes, whatever you can do.'"
Another American traveling with Kapper said he believes the "least we can do" is support Ukraine.
"We made a mistake with Iraq, just like we made a mistake with Vietnam. We got ourselves into places we shouldn't have been," the Tennessee businessman, who asked to remain anonymous, told the newspaper. "These people are not asking us to show up. They're just asking for our support."
The online crowdfunding campaign is profiting from sympathy from the West and has brought in supplies such as hobby drones, as well as military equipment like body armor, rifles and ammunition, and night vision scopes. Some American firms have also offered free lobbying services to help push Ukraine's interests.
Czech officials report, though, that the biggest campaign came from the Ukrainian embassy in Prague. It raised almost $30 million from 100,000 donors from around the world in a few weeks after posting on its Facebook page that the money sought would be used immediately to procure military equipment for Ukraine's army and citizen self-defense units.
Another site operated out of Ukraine has a list of groups that are seeking donations for money, including cryptocurrency, and for military items that include satellite phones, thermal imaging devices, and drones.
In another appeal, a Ukrainian country posted an ad, approved by the government, for donations to buy a fighter jet. The site said that a MiG-29 or Su fighter jet can be bought from another country for much less than $20 million for a new one.
People wishing to send weapons from the United States to Ukraine must require export licenses, but the Commerce Department said in March that it will speed up the documents to allow the guns and ammunition to move faster.
Hobby drones do not require such permits, said Kapper, founder of Rotor Riot. "The hobby stuff is unregulated in a certain sense so they can use as much as they can get."
The drones, which can fly up to 70 miles per hour, are also used by the Ukrainian forces to observe Russian troops and their artillery capabilities and to locate people trapped in bombed buildings. Many of them only last a day or two and must be replaced often.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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