In a workshop in western Ukraine, a technician adapted a metal frame attached to a racing drone so that it could carry a grenade, turning an aircraft sold in commercials. hobby shops into a lethal weapon.
Standing nearby were two American businessmen, who had come to the workshop with a dozen other drones as gifts, a small part of what has become a stream of military aid to Ukraine. But these are not part of the state-sponsored arms shipments being run into Ukraine to help it fend off the more powerful Russian army in the east.
Instead, these drones are part of a multi-faceted, multi-million dollar crowdfunding campaign that is generating millions of dollars in donations, as well as a bounty of various types. Smaller arms and other military equipment for the Ukrainian army. To promote donations, Ukrainian officials and private companies are making direct online appeals to sympathetic foreign nationals, even as they continue to press governments to buy heavier weapons.
One of the American entrepreneurs, Chad Kapper, said his trip started with a call to a Ukrainian drone racing friend.
“I said ‘Listen, what do you need? You know, can we supply parts or anything? ”, Mr. Kapper, the founder of a drone company, recalls. “And he said ‘yes, whatever you can do’.”
For many of the sponsors involved, this conflict has unusual moral clarity.
“We fouled Iraq, just like we fouled Vietnam. We took ourselves to places we shouldn’t have gone,” said another American businessman carrying the drone, a Tennessee businessman who requested anonymity because of safety concerns. “These people are not asking us to show up, they are just asking us for support. The least we can do is support them.”
Even as Ukraine received large shipments of heavy weapons from the United States and other governments, the online campaign garnered broad Western sympathy and generated meaningful donations for the country’s war effort. Included in the donations are dual-use items like hobby drones; military equipment such as night sights; armor, rifles and ammunition; and Free lobbying service of US companies.
The biggest campaign, a Social media calls for donations by the Ukrainian embassy in Prague, raised nearly $30 million from 100,000 donors less than three weeks after it launched, including donations from around the world, according to Czech officials.
“We appeal to all financial support for the donation for immediate assistance in the procurement of military equipment for the Ukrainian Army and citizen self-defense units,” the embassy said. in February on his Facebook Page.
The Czech government, which also benefits from its own arms sales, said it would provide quick approval for purchases.
Another Ukrainian website provides a list of groups seeking donations, including in cryptocurrency, for items including thermal imaging equipment, drones, and satellite phones.
With any crowdfunding campaign, there are concerns about fraudsters, and Ukraine has struggled with pre-war corruption. However, there have been no reports of mismatches in online efforts to bring in more weapons.
In perhaps the boldest of calls, a Ukrainian company last month issued a government-approved appeal to raise funds from the public to buy a fighter jet.
‘Buy me a fighter plane. It will help me protect my skies full of Russian planes,’ a white-haired Ukrainian fighter pilot exclaims in English.
The website explains that MiG-29 or Su fighters can be purchased from one of several countries for much less than the $20 million cost of a new one.
“For this reason, we address international companies, entrepreneurs and everyone who can join the initiative,” the website reads, happily adding: “Join! Teamwork creates dream jobs!” said a company spokesperson a week after the campaign started, they had raised about $140,000 and acknowledged the call to target millionaires.
“I It’s hard to believe that he can buy a fighter jet, that they can use it for purpose and choose the right trained people, said Simon Schlegel, senior Ukraine analyst at Crisis Group. suitable “. “I think this is really something that’s probably more of a marketing ploy.”
Stephen Flanagan, a senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation who served as the National Security Agency’s director of defense policy, said the American public’s involvement in the war put pressure on the government The US government must do more for Ukraine and “certainly broke some of the US government’s initial reluctance to provide lethal assistance to the Ukrainian military.
While sending weapons to Ukraine requires an export permit from the United States, the Department of Commerce in March said they are speeding up approval to export guns and ammunition sent by the Americans. Donating dual-use items like hobbyist drones has had few obstacles.
Kapper, founder of Rotor Riot, said: “For drone hobbyists, doing anything with military equipment is impossible. “Hobby things are not controlled in a certain sense so they can use as much as they can,” said Kapper, who is well known in the world of international racing drones.
Mr Kapper’s hobby drone – called First-Person for the images transmitted directly to the pilot’s glasses, is at the opposite end of the spectrum from the fighter. But they appear to fill a gap while Ukraine waits for more supplies of military-grade drones.
“They are calling me from different points, from different battalions, and they say to me ‘can you send more? We’re out,” a Ukrainian drone operator asked to be identified only by his middle name, Oleksandr. For security reasons, he requested that the location of the drone center could not be determined.
Oleksandr said the drones carried by the Americans would be useful for carrying explosives or for observing Russian fighter units on the front lines.
The story of the war about a weaker nation holding back a powerful invader and the specter of genocide in Europe resonated greatly with Americans and others around the world.
The Tennessee businessman said: “You know, after sending the money, I felt like I wasn’t doing enough. “I have resources and I have connections in this part of the world. And I know I can make a difference by putting something into the drone delivery process.”
The businessman, who said he has been contacted by the Ukrainian military for help, said he is starting a charity that allows people to donate to buy drones for Ukraine. Despite later modifications to the drones, he said he felt the drone donation was for “humanitarian purposes”.
“Nothing is illegal,” he said. “They asked for drones. What they do with them is completely up to them.”
In addition to carrying grenades, the drones, which reach speeds of up to 70 mph, are used by Ukrainian forces to see ahead of Russian units, target artillery, and locate Position people in destroyed buildings or forests by using infrared cameras. Many hobby drones, priced at $1,000 or more, have short lifespans.
“The enemy is attacking them so some of them only live a day or two,” said Oleksandr. “But for that day or two, they have important assignments. We are protecting ourselves. We are not crossing the border into Russian territory – we are in our homeland.”
In 2014, Ukrainian civilians responded to Russia’s invasion of Crimea by mobilizing to support an ill-equipped and unprepared army that laid the groundwork for much of the fundamental effort in this war.
“It is really impressive that this protection effort has its roots in civil society,” said Mr. Schlegel from Crisis Group. “There are very few networks of people who can buy almost anything, lacking in heavy weapons.”
Mr. Schlegel said video from the front lines and the proliferation of social media sites that use open source intelligence to analyze battle dynamics have also boosted public engagement in the conflict.
“Social media has been so close to the front, it is much closer than most historical wars,” he said. “This is the biggest land war in many people’s lives, and for many, it’s the first time seeing tanks operate on that scale.”
