February 2025 Update - Ukraine is NOT alone!

Dear Supporters of Ukraine,

This newsletter comes to you in the week of the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine; and an end to the war, let alone a truly just peace, is still hard to fathom. To the surprise of Ukraine and its European partners, the new Trump administration intends to establish good political and economic relations with Russia, and initial talks have commenced without involving the victim of the Russian aggression - Ukraine - as well as European nations.

Just today, the Trump administration escalated the meeting with president Zelenskyi regarding a potential minerals deal in the White House, undermining the strong support of so many Americans who have donated and supported Ukraine during the previous three years.

That support - which we see in your messages and donations every day - shows also: Ukraine is not alone! While things on the frontline are very tough for our defenders, the UAO team again delivered equipment worth over 100.000$ to the defenders of Ukraine in February - all enabled by your support! Please have a look on our February newsletter to read about our work, our deliveries, and how we can help our defenders.

Your UAO volunteer team

Joint fundraisers with “Suchomimus” and “Anna from Ukraine”

In case you missed it, our joint effort with YouTube fundraiser “Suchomimus” is ongoing - while the one supported by “Anna from Ukraine” ended successfully - and you can still receive unique patches and flags for your donation.

Donate here: https://donorbox.org/uaoxsuchomimus

Regarding the fundraiser with the "Suchomimus" YouTube community, with additional help from "Kyiv Defenders", we dedicate it to support three Territorial Defense Force units with life-saving equipment. Ukraine's Territorial Defense Force brigades, led by combat veterans, consist of citizens from all walks of life (teachers, engineers, coders, doctors, etc.). Over 100,000 of them have enlisted since February 2022 to become soldiers to defend their nation. Like other brigades, they are deployed to the most difficult directions on the frontlines, whether Pokrovsk, Toretsk, and Kharkiv, or along the Southern front.

Very often, TDF brigades and their units are in even greater need of particularly life-saving equipment support, compared to the regular branches of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Therefore, we aim to raise sufficient funds to purchase protective anti-drone domes (covering different frequencies to jam FPV drone signals), surveillance drones, thermal vision devices, and power supplies (e.g., high capacity Ecoflow power stations and generators) for use at the most embattled zones of the front.

Just recently, together with the "Anna from Ukraine" YouTube community, we raised more than sufficient funds to source protective anti-drone domes (covering different frequencies against FPV and surveillance drones), drone detectors, surveillance drones, and power supplies (e. g. high-capacity Ecoflow power-stations). The fundraiser’s focus was on Ukraine's Air Assault Forces, particularly the 81st and 82nd Air Assault Brigades. Both units are in need of transportation, and we are in the process of buying a van for each brigade. A reality check: Maybe you saw the recent video of Russians killing two prisoners of war from the 82nd, fighting in Kursk - please realise just how important support of those units is.

Delivery to our 82nd Brigade defenders in the Sumy region from last Summer (Kursk Direction)! Yuri brought critical drones, generators and powerstations!

Dutch NPO Radio 2 interviews UAO’s Sytske de Boer

After returning from her most recent frontline delivery missions, UAO volunteer Sytske de Boer was interviewed by Dutch NPO Radio 2, sharing some insights about her work, and how she reconciles it with having a family and day job in bilingual preschool education. Please read an excerpt below, and watch the whole interview here.

NPO: You travel quite close to the front, I understood. How is the situation there at the moment?

SdB: It’s tough! Every time we go back to the front, we are in Kramatorsk then, I think this may well be the last time I am here, in Kramatorsk. The Russians are trying to cut off the whole area from Pokrovsk in the South on the one hand, and on the other side, in the north, via Lyman.

NPO: You’ve been there seven times now, how has the situation changed?

SdB: Well, the Russians have a lot of losses but they are also attacking so mercilessly hard, it’s really wave after wave after wave… and it gets increasingly difficult for the Ukrainians who in the end are with far fewer people, to stop it.

NPO: I read about suicide campaigns from the Russians.

SdB: Yes that is a new tactic, the Russians send one person ahead who puts new stock somewhere, guns and so on. Often, this person doesn’t come back at all, but if there is an assault, then the stock is ready available at a certain place. And then such an assault can be more effective.

NPO: And the one who brings the stock, the Russian soldier? He blows himself up?

SdB: Yes, that’s what the Russians do.

Sytske with NPO Radio 2’s interviewers and guests

UAO on the ground - dozens of deliveries to our defenders

Drones, drone jammers, generators, thermal vision devices and much more - after three years of war, UAO’s ground team in Ukraine continues making deliveries almost every day. Unfortunately, missing clarity regarding the future military support by foreign partners like the U.S. certainly takes its toll with the UAO team - the mood within the team is determined but tense. Your generous and tireless support from all around the world helps to keep us going after three years of war. Backed by many highly successful fundraising campaigns, we were able to increase the amount of critical equipment purchases and deliveries, and we can place orders for more. With Yuri and Rima making deliveries, Sytske was in Kyiv for administrative work and support of the ground team. Please see below how your funds benefitted the defenders of Ukraine, the defenders of all our freedom, too.

Donate here: https://donorbox.org/uaoxsuchomimus

We recently provided this drone jammer to the frontline medics of the 43rd Mechanized Brigade. Ambulances are often targeted by Russian FPV drones, and the drone jammer will help to protect them 

Soldiers of the 3rd Special Operation Forces (SOF) Regiment received a Mavic 3T thermal vision drone and 20 power banks. SOF units operate in the most difficult areas on the frontlines, and supporting them with surveillance drones is essential

With funds from previous fundraisers (with the “Combat Veteran Reacts” YouTube community, for example) we were able to step up deliveries, here to units of the Presidential Brigade. They received a Mavic 3T thermal vision drone, spare batteries, thermal vision devices, and more

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

Sincerely, the UAO volunteer team. 

Heroyam Slava!