My dear friends and followers, I have an important and somewhat unusual fundraiser to announce. It's very important, and I am asking for your help to spread the word and donate. Please read a small interview from Ukrainian commanders and the details below. The donation link is in the end.
After consulting with my friends from the Ukrainian 92nd Assault, 26th, and 47th Artillery Brigades, I have decided to shift my fundraising goals toward engineering equipment, specifically excavators.
Why are small excavators so important for the infantry? I spoke with an infantry battalion commander from one of the assault brigades to better understand this. Please read quotes from him:
"Our brigade has one or two PZM2 trenchers, and they are always either broken or in use. We lack the manpower to build proper fortifications, and the infantry often ends up not digging deep and long enough trenches because they are exhausted from endless combat and shelling. I can't afford to have them in a trench for six days and then digging another trench for six more days; they need to rest.
" I asked if they would be able to dig the fortifications when enemy FPVs fly by: "Now is the perfect time for that, because of the greenery, we can relatively safely build trenches inside the treelines 2-5 km away from the frontline. If we have a small 2-8 ton excavator, it can discreetly operate inside the treeline without breaking all the trees. It’s mobile and easy to use. Yes, we will have a risk of delivering it quickly enough to the treeline and back, but I'd rather risk it driving in the open for 15 minutes than having my infantry stuck in knee-deep trenches without proper ceiling layering with three layers of logs."
"They save the lives of our infantry. If you carefully examine the latest videos, you can see that the only thing between the infantry and the enemy FPV is the fortifications."
"No, we won’t use the excavator on the front line; we will use them to build fallback positions, positions for drone operators, and for the command posts.
"So I've spoken about the infantry, but why does artillery need them?
To better understand this, I spoke with one of the artillery brigade commander's deputies. Please read his comments:
"Let’s not start the blame game; it’s just the reality. We only have one excavator based on a Kraz for digging, and it’s always under repairs or maintenance."
"Remember how many videos there were of our machines struck by lancets? Well, you see less now. We are taking measures, and those measures work. With properly built fortifications, it’s only a direct hit from a 152mm shell or a missile that can destroy the howitzer."
"With excavators, we hide our equipment deep, we build separate ammo storage, and we build a bunker for the crew."
"How long do you think it takes to dig a fortification to conceal a Krab with shovels? At least two weeks, and while the crew is building it, it can’t operate. If you think that’s not enough reason, I will give you another one: we had crew members injuring themselves while digging, breaking bones, two people got injured at the same time. This affected howitzer operations; you can’t properly operate it if you have two people missing."
"With an excavator that you gave us, it takes us only two days and requires three times fewer people to build a Krab shelter, two ammo storages, and a bunker for the crew.
"As you can see, the engineering equipment is highly needed, so this month I want to set an ambitious goal to acquire three excavators, get funds for repairs, and build protective cages for Bohdana howitzers against FPVs.
We already have two 5-ton excavators waiting to be repaired in Kharkiv, so our total goal is below:
3 x 5-ton Yanmar Vio50/55 excavators: $90,000
Repair parts for 5 mini excavators, 4 Yanmar and 1 Hyundai: $20,000
Repair parts and services for a 55-ton crane to support burning shipping containers for command posts for the 59th Brigade: $11,000
Protective cages for Bohdana howitzers: $24,000
We are setting up a repair and maintenance shop in Kharkiv right now, and your aid is very much needed. Without you, we can’t do it.
I know this seems like a huge and ambitious goal, and I am not sure if we can meet it. But together, we have already saved millions of dollars of equipment.
Donation Link:
https://paypal.com/pools/c/94gFbMzqdJ…All donations are tax deductible, via us registered non-profit
@LibertyUkraineF
Slava Ukraini! I will post updates and more videos about our work repairing and maintaining these crucial tools.
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