Grassroots funding for Ukraine's military declines as groups look for creative ways to raise money

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The concert took place in an old movie studio in Kyiv, the location kept secret until the final moment in case it was the target of a Russian attack.

More than 1,000 soldiers and young people gathered to listen to the artists who joined forces with a military brigade in an innovative effort to raise funds for Ukraine’s embattled troops.

This was the first and only live performance of the charity album “Epoch,” a collaboration between the 3rd Assault Brigade and eight Ukrainian bands.

The project’s ambitious target is to raise 50 million hryvnias (about $1.2 million) to buy an M113 armored personnel carrier to help get infantry to the front and evacuate the wounded for medical treatment. Since it launched on streaming platforms a month ago, the initiative has raised 9 million hryvnias (around $214,000).

Grassroots fundraising for Ukrainian fighters dates back to 2014, the year Russia first annexed the southern region of Crimea and Moscow-backed separatists launched an uprising in eastern Ukraine. At that time, Ukraine’s defense was made up of a regular army supported by volunteer battalions who weren't financially supported by Kyiv’s government. Self-funding was critical.

Now, advertisements pasted along the sidewalk in Kyiv ask for donations to help fill financial gaps across the military. By scanning a QR code, people can help buy anything from body warmers and drones to armored cars for soldiers defending the nearly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line.

But some charities are seeing a decline in individual donations in part because of the economic situation in the country.

Oleksandr Borodyn, one of the project's organizers, says the idea for the collaboration came from the challenge of continuing to drum up funds to support troops as the war is on the cusp of marking a three-year milestone.

“To raise the same amount of money as at the beginning of the war, you need much more effort. That’s why we came up with the idea that a musician could donate his or her art, and that art would earn money for the army,” said Borodyn, a press officer for the 3rd Assault Brigade.

The initiative comes as U.S. President Joe Biden is rushing out billions of dollars more in military aid before Washington's support for Kyiv’s defenses is thrown into question when Donald Trump takes office next month.

Monobank, one of the largest platforms to process donations, says that in the first 1,000 days of war, nearly 10.5 million unique users made donations totaling around 77 billion hryvnias (about $1.8 billion) to various fundraising organizations.

But some charity groups are finding that voluntary funding isn't what it was in the first year of the full-scale invasion. The Come Back Alive foundation supports troops with anything from military training to buying drones and electronic warfare to repel attacks. In the first year of the conflict, they raised more than 5.7 billion hryvnias ($184 million). So far in 2024, the figure is nearly 3.6 billion hryvnias ($89 million).

“Many people report a worsening financial situation, which limits their ability to contribute to supporting the military,” said Oleh Karpenko, deputy director of the Come Back Alive Foundation.

Three years of war has had a devastating impact on Ukraine’s economy. According to a World Bank report released in May, the number of Ukrainians living in poverty has grown by 1.8 million since 2020 to about 9 million, or 29% of the population.

To help the most vulnerable, the government launched a winter support program at the beginning of December and within days, around 6.5 million people had applied to receive the one off 1,000 hryvnia ($24) payment to help cover utilities, medical services and cellphone costs.

According to Karpenko, local initiatives and smaller-scale fundraising efforts mean many people direct their contributions toward helping specific soldiers or military units they know personally. That reduces the amount received by larger organizations, which he says can promptly address urgent battlefield needs that the government can't meet.

“International support also plays a significant role in donation levels," Karpenko said. "When aid from international partners decreases, it strongly demotivates Ukrainian society. People lose motivation to donate when they perceive a lack of willingness from partners to actively supply weapons.”

Staring up at the large monitors set up on either side of the stage in the form of the three diagonal line symbol of the 3rd Assault Brigade, 26-year-old Oksana Kalenchenko thinks that events like the concert are hugely important in continuing to generate support.

“It’s a reminder to somebody that there is a war going on in Ukraine, let’s keep donating, let’s keep doing everything we can,” Kalenchenko said.

The collaboration album features young artists from Ukraine’s rock, rap and alternative scene, and many of the lyrics reflect events and the reality of living through the conflict.

“We want to show the reflection of contemporary artists to the situation in Ukraine, and in general to Ukraine at war … That’s why the project is called ‘Epoch,’ because it is a transmission of the era we are living in,” Borodyn said.

What also unites all the songs is language. Since the start of the full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, Ukrainian music has experienced somewhat of a revival with many artists shunning the traditional Russian pop scene that dominated the post-Soviet era.

“People did not pay attention to Ukrainian music in such a large number,” says Iryna Panchuk, singer and songwriter for “Renie Cares,” one of the bands on the album. “This is separation, because this is what makes us different from Russia and this needs to be emphasized very strongly — emphasized and strengthened,” she added.

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Alex Babenko contributed to this report.

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Follow the AP’s coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine