A lot has happened since Harri drove across the Polish-Ukrainian border with a truckload of steel plates and a plan to assist Ukrainian defenders in April 2022. His posts on Twitter about his efforts went viral and started Ukraine Aid Ops. This is what we have accomplished since then, thanks to your support for the people of Ukraine as they fight for their freedom.
Slava Ukraini!
Over 50 people from around the world answered Harri’s call for help and joined the team! Today Ukraine Aid Ops is a 100% volunteer run organization, with each team member willingly giving our time and skills to make UAO what it is and accomplish our mission of bringing life-saving gear to Ukrainian defenders, directly on the frontlines with no intermediaries.
Resisting Russian aggression and tyranny and supporting Ukraine is a global mission and Ukraine Aid Ops is a global team!
This is true not only of our volunteers, but also all of you, our 90,000+ followers and thousands of donors that have made it all possible through your generous donations.
Below, you find the results of our major (donorbox) campaigns and an estimate of the goods delivered via the Amazon wishlists. The “general fundraiser” concerns the donorbox fundraiser on our website. In cases where they were allocated to a specific campaign, those direct bank transfers & income from auctions, memorabilia, art and merchandise have been included as well.
Results of Our Campaigns So Far
In addition to all this, multiple corporations and other organizations have stepped up to support us with money, goods or knowledge. We would like to thank every organization, every decision maker and every employee who took a stand when it counted the most!
“Your money is not charity. It’s an investment in global security and democracy.”
-President Zelensky
Ukraine Aid Ops has supplied gear to over 150 units of the Ukrainian military!
- 1st Presidential Brigade
- 5th Dnipro Brigade
- 10th Brigade
- 17th Tank Brigade
- 21st Brigade
- 21st OSB Battalion
- 23rd Brigade
- 23rd Separate Battalion
- 23rd Special Operations Unit
- 24th Brigade
- 25th Brigade
- 35th Marines
- 36th Marines 1st Battalion
- 41st Brigade
- 41st Battalion
- 42nd Brigade
- 43rd Heavy Artillery Brigade
- 45th Brigade
- 47th Brigade
- 47th Assault Battalion
- 53rd Brigade
- 54th Intelligence Battalion
- 55th Artillery Brigade
- 56th Brigade, 1st Rifle Battalion
- 57th Brigade
- 58th Brigade
- 79th Brigade 1st & 2nd Battalion
- 80th Separate Air Assault Brigade
- 90th Brigade
- 92nd Brigade
- 93rd Brigade
- 95th Brigade, 13th Battalion
- 96th Air Defense Brigade
- 110th Separate Territorial Defense Brigade
- 111th Brigade 110th Battalion
- 112th Brigade
- 113th Intelligence Brigade
- 114th Brigade 135th Battalion
- 120th Brigade
- 122nd Intelligence Brigade
- 124th Brigade Kherson Territorial Defense
- 125th Brigade
- 127th Brigade 229th Battalion Territorial Defense
- 132nd Battalion
- 135th Battalion
- 135th Brigade
- 140th Marine Infantry Reconnaissance Battalion
- 241st Brigade 243rd Battalion
- Aerorozvidka Arial Reconnaissance Unit
- Azov Artillery
- Belarusian Brigade
- Carpathian Sich Battalion
- Crimean Tatar Battalion
- Georgian Legion
- GUR Marines
- GUR Special Operations
- International Legion
- Kraken
- National Guard Units
- Norman Brigade
- Police. Force KORD
- Polk Azov
- Security Service of Ukraine (SBU)
- Special Operations Forces
- Special Operations Units
- Sumy Territorial Defense
- Task Force Baguette
- Omega Unit
- OUN Battalion
- And Many Others….
Mission Accomplished: Lives Saved!
The primary goal of UAO is providing life-saving gear. In the chaos of combat, we don’t expect to hear from most of the soldiers we have helped since they have more important things to focus on. Each life is precious and if all our efforts ensured that only one soldier came home to his or her family, it would be worth it all! The following stories are examples of the success of our mission and we believe for every story we have heard, there are likely many more that we will never hear.
A Spare Helmet Saved a Life in Zaporizhzhia
While distributing supplies in Zaporizhzhia , we were asked if we had a helmet for a soldier who did not have one. We had one helmet left and gladly gave it to him. A few months later, Harri got a text with a photo. The helmet had stopped a projectile and saved the soldier’s life!
Steel Plate Stops a Bullet in Kharkiv
One of the steel plates Harri brought to Ukraine during his first trip in April was given to a soldier serving in Kharkiv. Less than a month later, he sent this photo where you can clearly see the impact of a bullet that would have likely have killed him if it wasn’t for the plate he had received from Harri!
A Life Saved Twice in Bakhmut
We got a message from a solider serving in Bakhmut with this (unfortunately poor quality) photo of the helmet with have him with a large gash in the outside of it. Not on did the helmet save his life, but our team had also given him a S.O.S. emergency ration bar and took him to keep it in his vest. These bars are not popular because, to be honest, they taste terrible; but they are lightweight and packed full of calories. This soldier explained how thankful he was for the bar when himself and four comrades were trapped behind enemy lines for four days with nothing to eat but this bar, which gave them enough energy to keep going until they were able to make it back safely to their unit.
A Drone Brings a Unit Home Safely
We provided this Autel Evo II drone equipped with a thermal camera to a Special Operation Unit. The next day they texted us that after receiving the drone from us, they got a call from a unit trapped behind enemy lines. It was dark, but using the thermal drone to pick up body heat, they were able to locate the unit and the surrounding enemy positions and guide the soldiers back to safety. This drone prevented the entire unit from potentially being killed or captured!
“One Team, One Fight” Saves a Life in Bakhmut
We worked with our friends at Vests For Ukraine to to jointly obtain an order of helmets for the defenders. After these were distributed, Vests for Ukraine forwarded us the following message, “Thank you for the helmet, it saved my brother’s life!” We are honored to have been a part of this story and it shows why the philosophy of “One Team, One Fight” is so important. Working together, we can save more lives!
Endorsements
Some of the units which have given official letters of thanks include:The Georgian Legion, The Sumy Regional Territorial Center, Azov Artillery, the 23rd Battalion, and the 54th Intelligence Battalion. Harri was also personally awarded a medal for Excellent Service by the 54th, becoming the first person who to receive this award without being an active member of the unit.
We know there are many efforts to fundraise for Ukraine and we are grateful that you have chosen to trust us! Our goal is complete transparency, with the caveat that some things must remain secret because Operational Security (OPSEC) is required when operating in a war zone. Here are a partial list of some of the endorsements and testimonies we have received due to the effectiveness of our work.
In the United States we are a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization which means we have been vetted and approved by the US government as a charity.
Brigadier General Victor Zaitsev, the Deputy Chief of Main Intelligence Agency of the Ministry of Defense (GUR) of Ukraine signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Ukraine Aid Ops, committing to coordinating our efforts and offering their official support to our mission.
The North Atlantic Fellas Organization (NAFO) has designated Ukraine Aid Ops as one of their approved groups to which someone can donate to become an official Fella.
James Rushton and Michael Weiss also extensively covered our work in their piece ‘I’ll keep doing this until we win’: On the road with Ukraine’s aid suppliers.
And we have received numerous endorsements and shoutouts including from the Estonian Embassy, former President of Estonia Toomas Ilves, American independent journalist and foreign volunteer with the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Sarah Ashton-Cirillo, and many others.
Thank you again for supporting our efforts to help Ukraine in 2022! We look forward to continuing to save lives and help Ukraine achieve victory in 2023!
Sincerely, Harri and the entire UAO team