The Ukrainian World Congress has already donated tens of millions of dollars to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. These funds have been collected since the beginning of the full-scale invasion within the framework of the Unite With Ukraine initiative, announced the UWC President, Paul Grod, on the air of Ukraine’s national 24/7 newscast.
“In conversations with Ukrainians who came abroad, we most often heard two requests: to convince the governments of the countries to close the sky to Ukraine, and the second – to help the defenders who are on the front lines, went to the territorial defense, who are volunteers and have nothing to defend themselves. Then we realized that our priority is to protect the defenders,” the UWC president explained.
UWC initially purchased bulletproof vests, helmets, walkie-talkies, and thermal imagers with the collected money. Later, excavators, bulldozers, generators and demining machines were also transferred to the front. Ukrainian soldiers are equipped with combat medic backpacks, individual NATO first-aid kits, Israeli bandages, and tourniquets.
“Now we are working mostly in our main areas: tactical medicine and armored vehicles,” said Andrew Potichnyj, director of the Unite With Ukraine initiative.
The UWC also purchased 25 FV103 Spartan and FV432 armored personnel carriers for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Nowadays, machines help the defenders at the front. At the same time, the Ukranian World Congress is moving to another assistance stage – repairing old Soviet equipment, Paul Grod announced.
“There is a lot of old Soviet equipment, and the Armed Forces of Ukraine lacks equipment. That is why we are working with Ukrainian partners to update these resources,” the UWC president explained.
In addition, last year, the UWC became one of the largest donors to the Army of Drones project – purchasing drones for aerial reconnaissance.
Over 6,000 people from 70 countries have donated through the Ukranian World Congress. Among them are not only representatives of the Ukrainian community abroad but also caring foreigners, in particular, former high-ranking officials.
