Grassroots funding for Ukraine’s military declines as groups look for creative ways to raise money

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The party was held in an old film studio in Kiev, and the location was kept secret until the last minute in case it was a target. Russian attack.

More than 1,000 soldiers and young people gathered to hear the artists join forces with a military brigade in an innovative effort to raise money for Besieged Ukrainian forces.

This was the first and only live performance of the charity album “Epoch”, a collaboration between them 3rd Assault Brigade And eight Ukrainian teams.

The project’s ambitious goal is to raise 50 million hryvnia (about $1.2 million) to purchase an M113 armored personnel carrier to help transport infantry to the front and the armed forces. Evacuating the wounded to receive medical treatment. Since its launch on streaming platforms a month ago, the initiative has raised 9 million hryvnia (about 214 thousand dollars).

Grassroots fundraising for Ukrainian fighters dates back to 2014, the year Russia first annexed its territory. The southern region of Crimea Moscow-backed separatists launched a campaign Uprising in eastern Ukraine. At that time, the Ukrainian defense consisted of a regular army supported by volunteer battalions that were not financially supported by the Kiev government. Self-financing was crucial.

Now, ads plastered along the sidewalk in Kiev are asking for donations to help fill financial gaps in the military. By scanning a QR code, people can help purchase anything from body warmers and drones to armored cars for soldiers defending the nearly 1,000-kilometre (620-mile) front line.

But some charities are seeing a decline in individual donations due in part to the economic situation in the country.

Oleksandr Borodin, one of the organizers of the project, says the idea for the collaboration came from the challenge of continuing to raise money to support the troops as the war approaches a three-year milestone.

“To raise the same amount of money as at the beginning of the war, you need more effort. That’s why we came up with the idea that a musician can donate his art, and this art will earn money for the army,” said Borodin, press officer of the 3rd Assault Brigade.

This initiative comes as the American President Joe Biden Billions of dollars more In military aid Before Washington’s support for Kiev’s defenses comes into question when Donald Trump takes office next month.

Monobank, one of the largest platforms for processing donations, says so on the first 1000 days of warapproximately 10.5 million unique users made donations totaling about 77 billion hryvnia (about $1.8 billion) to various fundraising organizations.

But some charitable groups are finding that volunteer funding is no longer what it was in the first year The invasion is widespread. The Come Back Alive Foundation supports troops with anything from military training to military training Procurement of drones and electronic warfare To repel attacks. In the first year of the conflict, they collected more than 5.7 billion hryvnia ($184 million). So far in 2024, the number reaches nearly 3.6 billion hryvnia ($89 million).

“Many people report a deteriorating financial situation, which limits their ability to contribute to supporting the military,” said Oleh Karpenko, deputy director of the Come Back Alive Foundation.

Three years of war have had a devastating impact on me Economy of Ukraine. According to a World Bank report issued in May, the number of Ukrainians living in poverty has risen by 1.8 million since 2020 to about 9 million, or 29% of the population.

To help the most vulnerable groups, the government launched a campaign Winter support At the beginning of December, within days, about 6.5 million people applied for a single payment of 1,000 hryvnia ($24) to help cover the costs of utilities, medical services and mobile phones.

According to Karpenko, local initiatives and smaller-scale fundraising efforts mean many people are directing their contributions toward helping specific soldiers or military units they know personally. This reduces the amount received by larger organizations, which he says are able to address urgent needs on the battlefield that the government cannot immediately meet.

“International support also plays an important role in donation levels,” Karpenko said. “When aid from international partners decreases, it strongly demotivates Ukrainian society. People lose their motivation to donate when they notice that partners are unwilling to supply weapons effectively.

Oksana Kalinchenko, 26, looks at the large screens placed on either side of the stage in the shape of the three diagonal line symbol of the 3rd Assault Brigade, and believes that events like the concert are of great importance in continuing to generate support.

“It’s a reminder to someone that there is a war going on in Ukraine, let’s keep donating, let’s keep doing everything we can,” Kalynchenko said.

The collaborative album features young artists from Ukraine’s rock, rap and alternative scene, and many of the lyrics reflect the events and reality of living during the conflict.

“We want to show contemporary artists’ reflection on the situation in Ukraine, and in general on Ukraine at war… That’s why the project is called ‘Epoch’, because it’s a transfer of the era in which we live,” Borodin said. .

What also unites all the songs is the language. Since the start of the large-scale invasion on February 24, 2022, Ukrainian music has seen somewhat of a revival with many artists eschewing the traditional Russian pop scene that dominated the post-Soviet era.

“People weren’t that interested in Ukrainian music,” says Irina Panchuk, singer-songwriter of Renie Cares, one of the bands on the album. “This is separation, because this is what makes us different from Russia and this needs to be emphasized very strongly – emphasized and reinforced,” she added.

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Alex Babenko contributed to this report.

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Follow AP’s coverage of the war on https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine