January 2026 Update - Fighting the Energy Crisis

Dear Supporters of Ukraine,

A new year. A new page. Yet, Ukrainians already suffer from the most extreme winter conditions in over a decade. The enemy’s strike campaign on electricity, heating, water, and gas infrastructure - Russia’s perfidious weaponization of winter - continues unabated. Each and every strike is a war crime, a crime against humanity, but on the political front, performative posturing prevails over decisive supportive military commitment, and prosecution remains as elusive as ever. 

Donate for a 4x4 van for our paralympic warriors: https://donorbox.org/truck-for-paralympic-warriors

Families live precariously, in permanent survival mode amidst violent assaults. Rolling or total blackouts expose them to the cold, darkness and constant fear. Water mains and district heating pipes are bursting. Infants, young children, and the elderly are particularly at risk. Yet, also the defenders of Ukraine must operate under unimaginably difficult conditions, must persevere in their dugouts, trenches and command posts. Double-digit sub-zero temperatures affect both civilians and military alike, and now, to much chagrin, the Ukrainian Hydrometeorological Center again forecasted extreme temperatures of down to -20°C for early February. Like you can read below, our UAO team works tirelessly to help in this situation - by supplying hundreds of generators! And yet, in less than a month from today, Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine will have lasted four years, longer than the Soviet campaign against the German Wehrmacht in World War II. Despite all odds, Ukrainians remain masters of perseverance and resilience, and they continue defending their nation to the best of their capabilities.

This UAO January 2026 newsletter gives you interesting insights about:

Your UAO Volunteer Team

Fund an Armoured 4x4 Van for Warriors from Ukraine’s Paralympic Team

Sometimes, support requests reach us from the most unexpected sources. Last autumn, we were approached by a colleague of one of our volunteers - as you know, our volunteers have regular jobs besides their charitable volunteering. Said colleague, a sitting volleyball player who competed in the Paralympics several times, was contacted by members of Ukraine’s sitting volleyball team that currently fight for the armed forces of Ukraine. Beside of playing for Ukraine's national team, many serve in Ukraine's 23rd Mechanized Brigade, among others as drone pilots.

The work colleague described his intent to help wholeheartedly: "The sitting volleyball world is small and everybody knows everyone. When we heard that there is something we can do for them, we did not hesitate! Many players have been active for years (and even decades). We share a lot of memories together and beside the Court there is a lot of friendship!"

Their unit of the 23rd is in urgent need of an armoured 4x4 van to improve their front line logistics, as well as generators and power stations. We got in touch with Maksym, one of the player-fighters, to see how we could support them.

From our previous “Energize the Frontline” fundraiser that you so generously supported, we already delivered power stations to improve the unit’s energy supply, as you can see right here. Now, we want to follow up with procurement and delivery of the aforementioned armoured truck. With about $10.000 required, this fundraiser is comparatively small - but the vehicle will massively improve the unit’s safety at the front line, so please consider donating.

Donate for a 4x4 van for our paralympic warriors: https://donorbox.org/truck-for-paralympic-warriors

The Ukrainian sitting volleyball team at the paralympics in Paris 2024. Several team members (including Maksym) are active warriors in Ukraine's 23rd Brigade.

Saving Lives with UAO’s VR Counter Drone Training Program

You might recall that UAO supplied collimator sights (“red dots”) when we equipped soldiers with shotguns to counteract the constant drone threat. Now, we are excited to share an important update on how this life-saving project has evolved. FPV drones continue being the number one threat to soldiers on the move, and even more so since fibre-optic FPV drones, immune to EW jamming, appeared on the battlefield. If one arrives, there are only two options - taking cover if possible, or shooting down the drone with a shotgun.

One of our friends, M., who is a member of Ukraine’s GUR, shared his sobering first-hand experience. During a three-months operation, his eight-person team spent about one third of their time on the zero line and going to and from positions. His team was assaulted by fibre-optic FPV drones 30 times in that period, but, thanks to preparation, skill, and the right equipment, every single one was shot down. M.’s team has an infantry background, everyone being an experienced shooter. Unfortunately, many other soldiers, like pilots or technical specialists, are not so well trained with firearms - and for them, learning how to eliminate FPV drones is vital. In combat situations, there is often only one chance to react.

This is why we are excited to announce the launch of a new VR training program that was developed as part of the anti-drone project UAO has been involved in for quite some time. Last week, the first units received their VR headsets, along with software and instructions. The initial feedback was outright enthusiastic. Soldiers were impressed with realism and quality of the simulation, from the exceptional level of detail to realistic sound design. The training software simulates real-world battlefield conditions, different rifle types and ammunition, day and night scenarios, and different environments like trenches, forests, urban areas, and even a bumpy ride in a pick-up truck. This level of realism helps to prepare soldiers mentally and physically for the moment they could face the ultimate threat in real battle. It is your generous support that lets such vital projects come to life.

Donate for a 4x4 van for our paralympic warriors: https://donorbox.org/truck-for-paralympic-warriors

Yuri together with soldiers who conducted the Anti-FPV VR Training. Using the VR goggles, they see virtual FPV drones attacking them. They must use the shotgun mockups to "bring them down"!

Know the Gear - Inverter Generators

As part of our occasional newsletter series “Know the gear”, we provide more details about the equipment we provide, so that you know what we do with your donations. This time: inverter generators.

What are they good for?

Inverter generators, used along all front lines in Ukraine, are “portable off-grid power plants” that generate electricity from a combustion engine, run on petrol or diesel fuel.

While, due to ever more assaults on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, businesses and households around Ukraine keep running their shop, restaurant, or home with more or less bulky stationary generators, frontline soldiers require smaller, yet powerful portable devices, one reason that more lightweight petrol devices are preferred. Positions are constantly changing, and infantry, special forces, and drone operators need to secure existing and new positions, ad hoc, in the middle of nowhere, off-grid.

Inverter generators are essential to recharge power banks and power stations, which, in turn, charge anything battery powered, like drone batteries, drone controllers, tablets, smartphones, radios. Nearly all inverter generators are also fitted with several AC and DC sockets to charge electric devices directly, hence their incredible versatility.

Donate for Generators (Winter 2025): https://donorbox.org/truck-for-paralympic-warriors

Thanks to our previous energy fundraisers as well as our collaboration with the Dutch Diel Foundation, the 26th Brigade received 2 batteries and 2 inverter generators. Just one of dozens deliveries when we helped units with energy supply.

How do they work?

An inverter generator runs on a four-stroke petrol or diesel engine, where those running on petrol are preferred because of their lower weight.

While a four-stroke engine has more parts, it creates higher torque at much lower RPM, which means it is quieter and longer lasting than a two-stroke engine (the kind of engine that, for example, powers Russian Geran-2/Shahed 136 strike “moped/lawnmower” drones, for example).The engine mechanically drives a brushless alternator that outputs unregulated “raw” AC. The AC first passes an EMI, an electromagnetic interference filter. It is then fed into a rectifier, essentially an array of four diodes that can be understood as “one way valves”, which converts it into DC that nevertheless still pulses according to the alternator’s RPM. To eliminate the pulsing, to “smooth” the DC current, the rectifier then filters the current through a capacitor that charges/discharges. Now, the “usable” DC current can be fed to DC charging sockets, and an inverter. The inverter converts the DC current into normal 230V/50Hz AC output, feed to sockets from which one can directly power AC devices, or re-charge large power stations, like an Ecoflow, for example. Because the loads (the devices) on the inverter side set the output, the engine can change its speed accordingly, rather than being locked to a constant RPM value.

Donate for Generators (Winter 2025): https://donorbox.org/truck-for-paralympic-warriors

Also the size of energy deliveries increased, like here, when we provided 8 (!) generators and 5 powerstations to the paratroopers from the 82nd Brigade!

All said and done, inverter generators produce heat, so soldiers take great care to conceal it from thermal vision drones at night and in cold weather.

UAO has supplied inverter generators with an output from 1.800 W to 3.200 W to frontline units since 2022. Ukraine has no generator and spare parts industry of its own, and supporters from abroad, large and small, have to ensure timely procurement and delivery. Dutch foundation St Diel raised funds for generators and power stations - over $250.000 so far - that UAO will deliver. This January, 75 generators and 55 power stations were delivered already. Also, the 26th Artillery Brigade received two power stations and two inverter generators. These are just some of many deliveries where UAO supported units with energy supply equipment.

Important - Change of Account for Donations in Euro

Since 2022, many of you who donated in Euro did so in co-operation with the Dutch charity “Eyes on Ukraine. Unfortunately, the associated bank account was recently closed. However, we were lucky to find a new banking partner that is willing to support our mission, supporting the defenders of Ukraine and Europe. UAO’s new €-denominated bank account is:

IBAN: LT163500010018837630

BIC: EVIULT2VXXX

Account holder: Eyes on Ukraine

Reference: Donation UAO

Or visit this link: https://eyesonukraine.eu/uao/

Please email info@ukraineaidops.org for more information.

Thank you for your support from the UAO team. Thanks to you we are able to help our units, like here together with the CVN team, when we provided Generators, Powerstations, Starlinks and multiple Drones to our Marines from the 38th Brigade!

Thank you for standing strong with Ukraine. Together we will win this war!

Sincerely, the UAO volunteer team. 

Heroyam Slava!

Back to blog