The treacherous and absolutely unprovoked full-scale russian attack on Ukraine did not leave the civilized world any room for doubt that russia is a terrorist state. In order to stop the unlawful actions, multiple governments, businessmen, public figures, creatives, and average citizens of Ukraine’s partner countries have united. They come up with all kinds of creative ways to raise money to support Ukrainians.
Tens of thousands of people from all over the world have booked apartments in Ukraine through Airbnb since the start of the full-scale russian invasion. Of course, they were not planning to visit Ukraine due to safety risks, but for them it was a fast and safe way to financially support Ukrainians. On 12 March, Brian Chesky, the chief executive officer of Airbnb, stated that in just one week $15 million was raised to support Ukraine. These funds go directly to the Ukrainians who offer their apartments to book through the platform.
Citizen Brick released two custom Lego pieces: the Molotov Cocktail, and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy minifig. The limited items were created for a charitable goal. Over $16 thousand was raised from sales. The full amount was donated to Direct Relief, that provides medical assistance and disaster relief all over the world, and send Ukraine much needed medical aid.
Illustration by Yuriy Zhuravel
In May, the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo published a special issue in support of Ukraine. It included over 20 works of Ukrainian caricaturists. The publication stated that the revenue from this issue will go to Ukrainian Armed Forces and Odesa Territorial Defence Forces.
Epic Games, an American game developer, partnered up with Xbox. They announced that all income from the Fortnight game gathered between 20 March and 3 April will be donated towards humanitarian help for Ukrainians that suffered from war. $144 million was raised through this initiative. All of it will be donated to The United Nations World Food Programme, UNICEF, and Direct Relief, who supply medical aid.
T-shirts and other merch with the Saint Javelin meme were sold to raise over $1 million to support Ukraine. This was initiated by Christian Borys, a former Canadian journalist, who had been covering the events in Ukraine since the beginning of war in 2014. The image of St.Mary holding Javelin (an anti-tank weapon), became one of the symbols of Ukrainian resistance. Clothes with this image are wildly popular all over the world.
In just 3.5 days, the Lithuanian people crowd-funded €5 million to purchase a Bayraktar drone for Ukraine. The campaign was launched by Andrius Tapinas, a Lithuanian journalist, on 25 May. He announced that he got an approval for this potential purchase from both the Lithuanian and the Turkish Ministiries of National Defence, and also from the manufacturer. Eventually, the Baykar company made a decision to send the drone to Lithuanians free of charge, and the money was used to purchase ammunition for the drone, other intelligence devices, and medical supplies.
Lado Apkhazava, a teacher from Chibati village, Guria region in the west of Georgia, raised $700 thousand to help Ukraine in the fight against russian invaders. He shared on his social media that he sold his late mother’s engagement ring and his Global Teacher Award commemorative coin and send the money ($850) to support Ukrainian students and teachers. The personal initiative of a Georgian teacher grew into a global charity campaign of teachers from dozens of countries.
Lithuanian artist Tomas Upskas created a diorama about the actions of russian soldiers in Ukraine. The piece is called Brothers in Arms. It shows how russian soldiers looted and detroyed Ukrainian houses. According to Tomas, he plans to put it up for an action with the starting bid of €2,000 and all the money raised will go to support Ukraine. He is also working on a diorama dedicated to the defenders of Azovstal.
Popular bloggers are also joining the global fundraising efforts to support Ukrainians. An American YouTuber Jimmy Donaldson, also known as MrBeast, in one of his videos announced the start of a campaign to raise $3 million for humanitarian help for Ukrainian refugees. At the same time, Kings and Generals, a YouTube channel with historical documentaries is posting a series of videos about Ukrainian national identity and encourages to donate to the Foundation and Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center.
