BGV Winter Cup 2023 charity tournament raises UAH 1.4 million for intelligence drones

About UAH 1.4 million — that's how much the Polissia football club and Hennadii Butkevych's BGV Charity Fund raised for the needs of the intelligence divisions of the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. These funds will be used to purchase 13 quadcopters with thermal imaging optics and help the military efficiently and safely perform tasks to protect Ukraine's sovereignty.

During the BGV Winter Cup football tournament, it was possible to raise UAH 60,000 worth of donations from fans who watched the matches live. Ukraine's Estonian friends also joined the fundraising: the president of Tallinn's Levadia football club, Ukrainian Viktor Levada, transferred €15,000 to purchase equipment for the armed forces.

After the end of the charity tournament, the president of Polissia FC and the founder of the BGV fund, Hennadii Butkevych, doubled the raised amount. So the final result is about UAH 1.4 million to support Ukrainian defenders.

"Today, everyone contributes to Ukraine's victory over the aggressor. The best thing we do is play football. FC Polissia, club president Hennadii Butkevych and the BGV Charity Fund jointly decided to combine sports and charity. This led to an excellent result, which will allow us to provide the intelligence unit of the Special Operations Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which is based in Zhytomyr region, with the necessary means," said Volodymyr Zahurskyi, executive director of Polissia FC.

"Our fund's projects and charity fundraising campaigns once again prove that one of the superpowers of Ukrainians is the ability to unite. Our goal was to collect funds for five quadcopters for intelligence officers of the Zhytomyr region within the tournament. But in the end, the results will allow us to purchase 13 drones for several units — almost three times more than planned. We continue to unite friends: from presidents of European football clubs to legends of Ukrainian boxing: during the tournament, boxer Oleksandr Usyk played for FC Polissia, who not only drew attention to the competition but also helped with fundraising as part of a charity initiative. The fund continues to look for opportunities to implement as many projects as possible to support the Ukrainian military, children, IDPs, and medical institutions. To date, we have already managed to attract $10.5 million in support for Ukraine," Polina Aldoshyna, director of the BGV Charity Fund, stressed.