On this American Thanksgiving Day, our newsletter focusses on our friends in Ukraine, who are having a very hard time.
Back in September, we were fortunate to welcome to Resilience Conference two active-duty Ukrainian officers. They spoke bravely, plainly, and confidently on a panel moderated by Eveline Buchatskiy, Managing Partner of D3, and when they finished they were greeted by only standing ovation Resilience Conference has ever seen. Later in the day during a breakout session, Oleksandr (the soldier with the moustache) told Resilience Conference attendees that his unit’s R&D facility had been bombed by the Russians. We decided there and then to raise funds to rebuild it.
Today Resilience Media is launching a fundraising campaign with Help99, the Estonian organisation that has sent millions in equipment to Ukraine. The money will be sent from the Help99 non-profit to a foundation in Ukraine that works with the 3rd Assault Brigade, and from there to the Unit.
Every day Russia fires hundreds of drones and missiles at Ukraine. They target energy infrastructure, homes, and civilians. This is a war crime. It is designed to cause terror in Ukraine and leave people without energy during the winter in order to weaken the resolve of the people to defend themselves against Russia.
Oleksandr’s unit, The Interceptor Battery of The Air Defence Division of the 3rd Assault Brigade defends against these air attacks. They defend a 180km strip of Ukraine’s border, and every day and night they save the lives of Ukrainian civilians and soldiers. They are experts in defending against Russian drones, and are learning the lessons Europe and NATO needs to defend its own skies from Russian drone attacks.
Giving Back with Thanks
Whilst Oleksandr and his colleagues were in London in September, they mentored at the EDTH Hackathon, spoke at Resilience Conference, and had meetings with some very established drone startups where they supplied actionable feedback to strengthen the products of those companies. They received no compensation for any of their time, and we feel they contributed considerably to a very well-funded defence tech ecosystem. Their knowledge is defending our skies, as well as Ukraine’s.
On Thanksgiving Day, we think it’s only right that we offer something back to them for their time and expertise. As they can’t work commercially due to their status as active-duty officers, our way to provide support is to fund their decimated lab.
The Resilience Media team and I call on the European and British defence tech ecosystem to make significant donations so we can exceed our target of raising 35,000 Euros by a large margin. We have contributed to the campaign already, donating 5,000€. Ukrainians are having a very rough winter and whilst the money helps, knowing we care is important, too.
The link to the fundraising campaign is here. Those who contribute will receive a customary patch, seen above, which we co-designed with Oleksandr’s unit and Help99, brought to life by our friends at Utile Studio.
Please share this fundraising campaign widely with your networks and let’s see what we can do for Oleksandr and his colleagues.
