Ukrainian creatives develop charity sweater collection celebrating their country’s provinces to fund FPV drones

The Platfor.ma social agency and the brand Woolkrafts created a collection of sweaters dedicated to Ukrainian regions. 

15 sweaters with familiar and beloved landscapes are set to help support Ukraine's defense, Rubryka reports.

What is the problem?

Ukrainian soldiers desperately need First-Person-View (FPV) drones on the front line because they can use UAVs to strike the Russian position remotely without becoming a target themselves and saving their own lives.

Even though, according to Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, over 200 factories already produce drones in Ukraine, the number of drones on the market is insufficient for military needs.

To remedy the problem, Ukrainian civilians are coming together to help the soldiers and fund much-needed drones, and trying to attract donations more creatively.

What is the solution?

The Platfor.ma team has released the second "Ukraine" sweater collection with beloved local landscapes — Carpathian meadows, Donbas spoil tips, Tavria steppes, Podillia fields, Severia forests, and Crimean mountains. 

The agency already produced sweaters dedicated to Ukrainian regions for the Day of the Unity of Ukraine. Then, it created only a few copies and sold them at auction, raising more than ₴250,000 (about $7,000) for charity.

The goal of the current fundraiser is ₴500,000 ($13,700) to fund FPV drones for the 3rd separate assault brigade.

How does it work?

The new drop is a joint work of Platfor.ma and the Ukrainian brand Woolkrafts. This time, the collection was improved with new details and made available for purchase by everyone.

The designers also created a new sweater dedicated to the Azov region, depicting the Berdiansk lighthouse and the Sea of Azov. The city of Berdiansk has been occupied by the Russian forces since March 2022.

"We have always dreamed of creating knitted clothes because we wanted to give warmth to literally anyone anywhere," says the Woolkrafts team. "We started working on the collection in the summer to launch it just in time for sweater weather, wrapping everyone in warmth in the cold season. We are proud of the result and hope that the sweaters will become people's favorite and help raise donations for FPV drones for the military." 

The collection includes sweaters dedicated to 15 historical and ethnographic regions of Ukraine: Galicia, Bukovyna, Transcarpathia, Volyn, Polissia, Podillia, Azov region, Donbas, Tavria, Zaporizhzhia, Bessarabia, Crimea, Sloboda, Siveria, and Dnipro Ukraine.

Each sweater has an image of a typical landscape of the region. For example, the sweater about Zaporizhzhia depicts the Dnipro Dam, the southern "Tavria" shows the wild steppe nature of the Askania-Nova Biosphere, and "Crimea" includes the outlines of Mount Kara-Dag, familiar to all Ukrainians.

The initiators plan to donate the money to the 3rd separate assault brigade for FPV drones. The charity partner was the Kolo Foundation, which provides operational assistance to the military.

The cost of one sweater is ₴3,500 ($95). You can buy items from the collection at woolkrafts.com.

Rubryka reported that the Enjoying Life charity fund is launching the "House Next Door" project to help internally displaced Ukrainians. They will get housing, work, and start a new life in the community in the Kyiv region. Right now, the foundation is looking for a family with one of the members who will fill the post of a family doctor in the village of Medvin.

The FROLOV brand created uniforms for Ukrainian athletes who will participate in the Summer Olympic Games in Paris in 2024.