About $46 million in aid were donated to the Armed Forces of Ukraine by Ex President Petro Poroshenko and volunteers

 

About $46 million in aid were donated to the Armed Forces of Ukraine by Ex President Petro Poroshenko and volunteers

During six months of the large-scale invasion of the Russian army the Poroshenko Foundation, the Roshen company as well as the volunteers of the non-governmental organization “Sprava Hromad” donated the aid of about 46 million US dollars to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. As Poroshenko says, new large-scale purchases for the battlefront are ahead.

‘As from February 24, our efforts have been focused on three key areas. In the parliament, our team strictly follows the principle of internal unity. Our another priority is to strengthen the international support of Ukraine. Yet the most important one is to keep doing everything possible to supply weapons, means of protection, armored vehicles and drones for the Armed Forces of Ukraine," Poroshenko explains.

On February 24 we started with providing every necessary equipment for Kyiv territorial defense battalions, including those formed on the basis of the European Solidarity party. In early spring, there was nothing - no body armors, no helmets, no uniforms and even no underwear, Poroshenko recalls: ‘hand machine guns, grenades, radio stations - everything that the Kyiv territorial defense fighters and the Armed Forces needed from the very first days, we found, bought, and supplied’.

NATO-style first-aid kits worth UAH 330 million, as well as medicines and ambulances, including armored ones, were transferred to Ukrainian army to strengthen its medical capabilities.

‘Armor is needed everywhere at the battlefront. Armor is of key importance for the counteroffensive operations and for wiping the enemy out of our land. We contracted, purchased, delivered and handed 11 modern Italian ‘Shield’ armored vehicles over to the Ukrainian paratroopers. We got the licenses and purchased British ‘Spartan' infantry fighting vehicles. That is in addition to the hundreds of military trucks, dozens of pickup trucks, tractors for transporting heavy armored vehicles - all these are tools and wheels of our offensive and victory’, Poroshenko says.

At present, Poroshenko is also working on providing the Armed Forces with up to date equipment - drones and military robots. ‘The Poseidon project with operational drones, which is called the ‘Eyes of Arta', allows our artillery reconnaissance to see and destroy Russian ammunition depots, Russian accumulations of equipment and manpower, Russian headquarters along the entire frontline’, he emphasises.

More than 350 Autel drones are already in brigades - these are small working ‘birds’ that help soldiers navigate around their positions.

The most important task is to save lives of Ukrainian soldiers, the fifth President emphasizes. That is why yet another important project is being implemented together with the ‘Hospitaliers’ paramedic battalion. ‘The project is called ‘Zhuravel’; it will be dedicated to the possibility of evacuation from the frontline’, Poroshenko says about ‘THeMIS’, a new unmanned robot. ‘It is being armored now. We are improving the management system. I am very grateful to Hospitaliers, who volunteered to become our partner in this project’, Poroshenko says.

THeMIS is an Estonian platform that has already claimed a real hysteria among Russians - behind the scenes they have even announced a reward of a million rubles for 'capturing’ the unmanned robot. ‘Never will they succeed’, Poroshenko says.

‘We are going to import the armored ambulances. The first vehicle has already been contracted, and it will be handed over to Hospitaliers’, the fifth President informs.

Due to security issues, 80% of projects of equipment supply for the Armed Forces are non-public, journalist and public activist Vitaly Haidukevych emphasizes. He also notes that those almost 46 million dollars to the Armed Forces that are directed by the Poroshenko Foundation together with volunteers is an amount comparable with the help to Ukraine from some European NATO member states.

'We have a huge spectrum of cooperation, including about what I have not spoken  and will not speak about yet, regarding the support of our Air Defense Forces. Without much publicity we have been doing it since 2014. But it remains among our priorities’, Poroshenko says.

Petro Poroshenko thanked everyone who donated to support the army.

'The fate of Ukraine, the fate of each of us, is now being decided at the frontline. I would like to thank hundreds and thousands of those who are involved in the ‘Sprava Hromad’ assistance. I thank those tens of thousands of people who respond to our appeals and engage in this assistance - with money and volunteer activity. Together we will defeat the enemy’, Poroshenko emphasizes.

‘The key word for us is a counterattack. It is the counteroffensive of the Armed Forces that will determine the further course of this war. The success demands even more resources. Therefore, we have to support our fighters at critical points: both in the places of the hottest battles and in the hubs of logistical problems. This is our task. The task of the ‘Sprava Hromad’, of the ‘Brothers in Arms’ - they focus on solving this task. The fate of Ukraine, the fate of each of us, is now being decided at the frontline. We will do our utmost to strengthen the Armed Forces for decisive battles’, Poroshenko emphasizes.