This is United Ukraine co-founder Adam with your latest update on where your donations are helping the most in Ukraine. Since our last letter to you, we’ve distributed an additional $6,971.72 throughout the country; getting critical aid to individual families and necessary supplies to the front lines.
The biggest story in Ukraine right now is Russia’s use of Iranian-made kamikaze drones, which are attacking critical electrical infrastructure in an effort to terrorize citizens and expose them to the threat of bitter cold as winter approaches. Russia’s drone-warfare strategy is economic as much as military. Iranian Kamikaze drones cost approximately $20,000, while Ukraine’s TB2 drones have a sticker price of more than $1.9 million. Other Ukrainian anti-aircraft missiles cost approximately $120,000 per-shot to disable Iranian kamikaze drones. Russia’s goal is to exploit that cost differential and force Ukraine to make territorial concessions by making the war too expensive.
That’s where YOUR donations, and our local partners, come in. Iranian drones are cheap and slow, which means they can be shot down with simple rifles - provided the Ukrainians know they are coming in advance. The best way to get that early warning, and protect Ukraine’s cities and power grid, is with simple camera drones that can be purchased cheaply and in bulk. United Ukraine helped buy some of those drones, that were deployed to the Kherson and Mykolaiv fronts this week.
These Mavic 3 drones cost about $1,800, including delivery to Ukraine, when purchased in batches of five or more - reversing the cost calculation that drives Russia’s kamikaze done tactics. United Ukraine bundled our contributions with a few other organizations to reach that pricing level, and these have helped Ukraine shoot down 85% of kamikaze drones deployed in the last week. Each success represents homes that stay warm and families that remain in their homes. We’ll keep purchasing Mavic 3s as long as we have the funds to do so; the keeping people on the ground safe and an ounce of prevention is always worth a pound of cure.
If you want to help us stop needless death from drone attacks inside Ukraine, the best way to do so is by contributing to our general fund. We use all donations for purchases and distributions within days, and 100% of every donation goes into the country. United Ukraine’s founders pay all transaction fees personally. The best ways to donate are:
Via Debit, Credit, or Paypal: At this link
Via Venmo: @UnitedUkraine (under the business tab)
And we accept checks via mail at:
225 Bright Poppy
Irvine, CA 92618
But, of course, that’s not all we did this week.
Our partners have also continued to assemble and distribute food and aid packages throughout recently liberated cities and villages in Ukraine. Vlad, who has been organizing these distributions, never takes your support for granted and literally sends us hundreds of photos, documenting every person who picks up an aid package so that we know exactly who your donations have helped. For many residents, this is the first concrete aid they’ve received in eight months of war. It puts food on tables that would otherwise be bare.
We’ve also reached approximately the half-way point on our partnership with Brighter Ukraine, where we’re using GoFundME to raise money for an entire shipping container of MREs and other winter gear - representing tens of thousands of dollars of humanitarian aid at a fraction of the cost. 100% of all funds intended for this project go directly to defraying shipping costs, and we’re trying to pay this bill by the end of the month. The best way to donate for this project specifically is here: At this link.
And, of course, we keep providing aid and support to individual families who need our support: especially from currently occupied territories. This week, that included United Ukraine’s newest “charity baby” - Maria.
Maria’s mom, Yulia, is an English language teacher from Zaporizhzhia: a city that has been shelled regularly throughout the war as one of the regional capitals that Russia is attempting to annex. Sitting at home pregnant, while her school was closed, Yulia watched while Russian forces set fire to nearby oil depots: turning the sky black with soot.
United Ukraine got Yulia support in September so she could travel home to Konstyantynivka, a small village to the West of major fighting, where she reunited with her sister Yana and niece Olya. Yulia was able to give birth to Maria in tranquility, surrounded by people she knows and trusts, instead of worried about the next imminent Russian assault. Your donations made that possible, and are keeping Yulia’s family safe even today.
Your support helps families all over Ukraine, and in all shapes and sizes. Older residents with disabilities who cannot help themselves, young parents who are trying to raise children for the first time in multi-generational households, and single moms who are trying to make it on their own during trying times. War doesn’t discriminate; it affects everybody. So United Ukraine tries to get aid to everyone we can as quickly as we can.
Your support means the world to the people who receive it. Every week, someone tells me that your support is literally the answer to their prayers. While all of us are simply living our lives as best we can, a few dollars really and truly represents divine intervention to the people who need it most. Nothing else can top actually being someone else’s guardian angel. All of you do that every week; and it’s more impactful -psychologically, morally, and substantively - than you can imagine. Thank you for being that kind of rare light in the world.
As always, with love,
Adam