Ukrainian journalist raises $20,000 to buy pickup trucks for Kherson air defense unit

Petro Shuklinov, founder of the NESEMOS charity group and journalist in the military, has raised almost $20,000 to buy pickup trucks for an air defense unit in Kherson.

What is the problem?

Since the beginning of the full-scale war, the NESEMOS charity fund has donated more than 200 vehicles to the army. This year, volunteers decided to focus on protecting Ukrainian cities from Russian drones and missiles, setting a goal to deliver three pickup trucks for air defense to 6-8 cities.

To raise funds, the charity group holds raffles, offering trophies from downed Russian aircraft or portraits signed by ex-army chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi.

What is the solution? 

Funds for the pickup trucks were raised thanks to three portraits of Valeriy Zaluzhnyi painted by the Ukrainian artist Oleksandr Kanyuka.

"I expected the auction to bring about $10,000 for Kherson, but it turned out to be twice more. The struggle for the portraits was fierce," Shuklinov said.

How does it work?

In a few days the raffle will be shut and the vehicles will be purchased.

The first batch of cars will soon go to the air defense unit in Odesa, then to Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv and Mykolaiv. Funds have already been raised for all these cities, and the procurement process is underway.

Shuklinov says his fund has almost raised $50,000 for mobile air defense for Kherson.

"We do not buy new vehicles, but we replace as many spare parts as possible with new ones. We do this at our own NESEMOS veteran service station in Kyiv, where veterans repair vehicles for the military for free. We also raise money for equipment for the vehicles, such as powerful tires, additional batteries, tablets, and universal turrets."