- Donations from civilians to the Ukrainian war effort have dwindled since it began in 2022.
- So soldiers are auctioning defunct weapons and war footage to raise money for supplies and weapons.
Ukrainian soldiers are selling war memorabilia — like downed Russian drones, artillery shells, and firsthand footage of Russian defeats — to raise funds for frontline soldiers, the New York Times reports.
Soldiers told the Times that several units fighting Russian forces in Ukraine have to buy their own weapons and supplies, usually relying on outside donations. Those donations have waned since the war first began, they told the outlet.
Ruslan Zubariev, for example, made money off a viral video of him single-handedly killing a group of Russian soldiers with a rocket launcher. The funds went straight to his unit — the 92nd Mechanized Brigade — to purchase equipment.
"We don't get that stuff issued to us," Zubariev told the Times. "We buy it all with our own money."
Others are sending defunct weapons — like disabled antitank missile launchers — to be decorated and sold to the highest bidder at an art center in Kyiv, according to the Times.
Meanwhile, the head of the Come Back Alive foundation — a charity dedicated to funding the Ukrainian war effort — told the Times that the group has also seen donations dwindle since 2022 and has also turned to selling tokens of war, like downed Russian drones.
"Civilians don't realize that if they're tired and stop donating, it doesn't mean the war is over," Zubariev told the Times.