October 2026 Update - UAO x Canada: Major Collaboration Announcement

Dear Supporters of Ukraine,

Based on UAO’s experience with UGV procurement and distribution, we are more than happy to inform you that we are about to launch a major project in liaison with the government of Canada. The project concerns the procurement, supply and training of UGVs, unmanned ground vehicles, colloquially known as “ground drones” - equipment that we have delivered to many units of Ukraine’s armed forces for about two years already.

Always on the ball, UAO wanted to make an effort to support soldiers with front zone logistics - safer transportation of the wounded and all kinds of provisions. Over time, many Ukrainian start-ups have developed robust all-terrain UGVs, and so we initiated the “Four Wheeled Friends” ground drone fundraising campaign. Heartfelt addresses of gratitude show just how much of an impact our ground drone campaigns have already made on the battlefield, with soldiers discovering clever new uses - for example, using ground drones fitted with a Starlink terminal as forward mobile relay stations - all the time. In recent months, one “Targan” ("cockroach" in Ukrainian) ground drone after the other was supplied to brigades almost every week, and more are being delivered at this very moment. Not standing still, UAO is also looking into procuring different and larger UGV platforms.

Donate here for the defenders of Donbass

As the war evolves, so does UAO - and this project will lift our work to an entirely new level.

Our October 2026 newsletter provides you with updates about our most recent work in Ukraine - enabled by your generous donations:

• New Collaboration: UAO and Canada’s Department of National Defence collaborate
• Delivery Updates: How we make a difference on the ground
• Know the Gear “Starlink/Starshield”: What it is, and why it is critical for our defenders

Your UAO Volunteer Team

New Collaboration: UAO and Canada’s Department of National Defence collaborate

Ukraine Aid Operations (UAO) is launching a one-year programme to build ground drone capacity in ten Ukrainian frontline units. The programme, running from October 2026 to September 2027, will supply unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) and provides training to the crews who operate and maintain them. This project is supported with funding of Canada's Department of National Defence. 

Ground drones carry supplies, evacuate wounded soldiers and clear routes. They do the jobs that are most dangerous for people on today's front line. Every run a UGV makes is a run a soldier doesn't have to make on foot under drone and artillery fire.

"Ground drones save lives. It's that simple," says Sytske de Boer, volunteer / director of Ukraine Aid Operations. "We're in contact with hundreds of units, and they all tell us the same thing: the last few kilometres are the deadliest. This programme puts machines on that stretch of road instead of people, and it makes sure the crews know how to get the most out of them."

In the near absolute dark of night, a Targan ground drone that we delivered to the 25th Brigade saved a soldier's life.

Participating units

The programme works with ten units from the Armed Forces, National Guard and State Border Guard Service of Ukraine. They include 3rd Separate Assault Brigade, the 501st Separate Marine Battalion, the 11th Border Detachment, the Khartiia Brigade, the 25th Sicheslav Airborne Brigade, the 12th Azov Brigade, Strazh Anti-Aircraft Battalion, 225th Separate Assault Regiment and 93rd Mechanized Brigade.

The group deliberately combines experienced and new users. Half of the units already use ground drones fully in their operations. Others are just starting, using them for simple logistics tasks. The main goal is to strengthen all ten with ground drones and the instruction to use them well.

What the programme adds

UAO has included ground drones in its fundraising and deliveries since 2025. This programme builds on that experience and adds three things that single deliveries can't offer: structured training for less-experienced operators and engineers, careful tracking of how technical changes and different ways of operating affect results in the field, and a mentorship framework that lets units coach one another.

Through that framework, experienced crews pass on what they have learned, on operations as well as technical work such as modification, protection and maintenance. Tactics and technology on the front-line change fast, so these skills need constant adapting. Units learning from each other keeps that knowledge moving.

"We already deliver ground drones regularly, but Canada's support lets us plan a full year ahead instead of one delivery at a time," de Boer added. "The training, and tracking the effect of technical changes and different ways of operating, will show us how to make these systems even more effective. And as a volunteer organisation, we are of course very proud of the trust Canada's Department of National Defence places in us."

UAO-supplied Targan UGVs have always been prized assets. We already delivered several dozens of UGVs to improve units' supply logistics and enable evacuations.

Delivery Updates: How we make a difference on the ground

Sometimes, when all traditional means of delivery become too perilous or fail entirely, UAO’s supplies arrive airborne, carried towards front zone positions by heavy lift drones, technically not too dissimilar to the one used recently for the first ever airborne evacuation of a soldier. October was a month of many diversified supplies - two thermal vision drones here, a crate of tourniquets here, all depending on a particular unit’s request.

Reconnaissance and communication

Our fundraising campaign with Paul from Combat Veteran News (CVN) surpassed $110,000, and we initiated the purchase of essential equipment right away. This also included the first deliveries which arrived at the frontline: The CVN campaign was for the 81st Brigade, 3rd Assault Brigade, SOF and more. We already provided a big load of starlinks for many usages, many Matrice 4Ts, but also high-end and pilot laptops, printers, drone parts, a new kind of drone which is useful in close combat situations, and more parts for innovative projects - reporting on which will come in due time. And to give a small outlook: The 38th Marine Brigade will soon receive a large quantity of drone batteries, which they were critically low on!

All these items go together very well with the huge monitors that were provided by Diel, which give the drone teams a much more detailed view of their operations. Display monitors hardly make for exciting photos, but units we supply need them every day to co-ordinate and run all kinds of operations. Especially, the 112th Brigade received a lot of equipment, which it now uses for technical improvements, from communications to operations. The air defense unit of the 112th now operates three, and a unit in the southern direction two. The soldiers responded with a clear verdict: “These screens are great and really improve our workflow”.

While the 22nd Brigade received drone detectors, power banks and power stations, the SOF received 6 Starlink terminals, a laptop, and a PC from the joint UAO x CVN fundraiser

Winter is coming

With our partners, we purchased generators and power stations ahead of the impending cold winter season; already the fifth Ukraine must endure. As before, energy generation and storage equipment will be crucial. Our Dutch partner organisation, the Diel foundation, already raised over $400,000 for generators and power stations, which we will procure and deliver to the valiant defenders of Ukraine whenever the need arises.

First deliveries went to the 40th Artillery Brigade, defending in the southern direction. The National Guard received generators from the same collaborative effort, including power stations. Soldiers from the 42nd Brigade visited our warehouse twice; once to pick up six generators, and again for generators, power stations, Starlink terminals, and some extras - thanks to our friends from “Mokum”. The Forpost Brigade, defending in the northern direction, received an “UAO standard kit” - Starlink terminals and power stations for mobile operations.

Much of the power generation and storage equipment goes to Ukraine in Dutch cars. Drivers like Markus and Veerne regularly deliver power stations and Starlink terminals they finance themselves, but also volunteers like Ralph, Ad, Erik, Friedes, and others contribute significantly. We try to thank every donor by name, but could have missed a name or two - thank you so much for your generosity.

Markus and Veerne with power stations they donated and brought to Ukraine by themselves, with more from other Dutch donors.

Mobility & Medical Supplies

To secure its supply and evacuation runs in the front zone, the 32nd Mechanised Brigade picked up a “Targan” ground drone from the UAO warehouse. We also supplied some to the paratroopers of the 25th Airborne Brigade, who enhanced them with custom modifications; recently, they received five Starlink terminals.

After surprisingly many vehicle deliveries in summer and autumn, and the ever fluctuating demands of what units deem to be most critical, we delivered a Nissan Pathfinder to the 225th Separate Assault Regiment (as recently reported). It will support its logistics and evacuation operations, and was donated by the volunteers of the Dutch initiative Vehicles4UA. The FPV company of the 38th Marine Brigade received another pick-up truck, fitted with a new frame. With our partners, we also delivered much needed spare parts for cars and drones to the 91st Battalion - the soldiers send their regards.

The requests for medical equipment and consumables have declined over time, but when units ask for it, UAO delivers. The 140th Marine Battalion received 10 CAT7 tourniquets, five IFAKs, chest seals, gloves, rain ponchos, head lamps, and a laptop.

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Units regularly send photos from the frontline, showing what we delivered in use: A unit in the southern direction with large displays in its underground frontline position.

Know the Gear “Starlink/Starshield”: What it is, and why it is critical for our defenders

As you know, UAO supplies as many Starlink terminals as can be financed and procured, essential items for any Ukrainian army unit’s communication - for C2 (command and control), interceptor drones, and the very successful mid-range drone strike campaign that hobbles Russian advances well before they can even reach the front zones.

What is what

Starlink is a LEO (Low Earth Orbit) satellite constellation service (currently about 10,000 satellites), operated by SpaceX, that offers low-latency high-speed Internet connectivity for commercial consumer and business use, particularly relevant in remote locations. Starlink terminals (antenna “dish”, modem, auxiliary electronics) can be used stationary or in motion, up to a maximum authorised velocity of 100 mph, depending on service plan and geographic region (Starlink Roam, Local Priority, and Global Priority plans). A Starlink terminal validates its velocity via a GPS signal receiver. The terminal’s software then determines if operation at a certain velocity is authorised. Its firmware also detects inconsistent GPS location data, caused by tampering or spoofing. The terminals can also use Starlink satellite PNT (position, navigation, and timing) information for the aforementioned purposes, for example, in GPS-denied environments. In a nutshell, the Starlink back end and terminal front end handshake to determine how and where a particular terminal is authorised to operate.

Starshield is SpaceX’ U.S. national defence and security related service, based on Starlink - offering enhanced capabilities and higher device velocities, also able to operate with auxiliary U.S. satellites and services. The U.S. government procures Starshield services through contracts with SpaceX, with ownership and operational control depending on the system and arrangement. In other words, Starshield is not an entirely different satellite constellation service; it by and large “piggybacks” onto Starlink, and can be used with regular Starlink terminals, if authorised. Terminals that are Starshield-enabled support high-speed operations well above the 100 mph restriction imposed on ordinary commercial Starlink terminals. No “hacking” is necessary, when Starshield capability is authorised for a terminal. The “Ukraine hacked Starlink modems to use Starshield” allegations are nothing but Kremlin propaganda, as no tampering was and is necessary in the first place.

48 more Starlink Minis just arrived in the UAO warehouse! Our defenders still need them very much, as alternatives are scarce!

The controversy

SpaceX made Starlink services available for use over Ukraine right after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, providing a much-needed alternative to destroyed communication networks for use by civilians, government and military. Starlink services were enabled for all of Ukraine - except Crimea and the “DPR” and “LPR” regions of Donbas, usurped by Russia since 2014. The military Starshield service has been available to Ukraine’s armed forces since late 2023; a recently surfaced U.S. Senate letter confirmed that the U.S. government procured Starshield services from SpaceX for the Ukrainian military. Around 2,500 Starlink terminals, predominantly “Mini” kits, pre-configured for Starshield operations, have been provided to date.

From 13th October onwards, Ukraine’s military encountered unexpected restrictions at velocities over 100 mph, affecting its Starlink terminal’s Starshield service connectivity, severely disrupting military operations, particularly those involving C2 (command-and-control), and high-speed unmanned systems such as mid-range strike and interceptor drones. Who was ultimately responsible for authorising the Starshield usage restrictions, and their technical implementation, remains unclear. Neither the U.S. administration nor SpaceX have so far accepted final responsibility. On 24th October, Ukraine's Ministry of Defense officially reported that Starlink/Starshield services once again allow stable operations at velocities exceeding 250 mph.

Donate here for the defenders of Donbass

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

Sincerely, the UAO Volunteer Team.

Heroyam Slava!