Online fundraising raises millions as insurgent political strategies arm Ukraine

For perspective, when the Ukrainian Embassy in Prague started the fundraiser, the value of military assistance provided by the Czech government itself totaled about $27 million; the government aid would rise further to $31 million. Much of that funding has come from Czech citizens who sent their money directly into a bank account created for the purpose by the Ukrainian Embassy in Prague, but accounts that accept transfers in euros and U.S. dollars have allowed international donors to join the effort.

THREE MILLION REFUGEES HAVE FLED UKRAINE AMID RUSSIAN INVASION

“Ukraine’s Armed Forces and citizen self-defense units now urgently need military material to defend their homes, homeland and national sovereignty,” the Ukrainian Embassy said in a note that outlined how to donate. “The Embassy and the Office of the Defense Attaché of Ukraine in Prague have a list of specific requirements of the Ukrainian army, which can be immediately procured from Czech defense companies. This fundraiser will allow all friends and supporters of Ukraine to help stop Russian aggression.”

Online fundraising initiatives have propelled many an insurgent politician to victory over a more vaunted foe, from Barack Obama’s victory over Hillary Clinton to countless Tea Party triumphs against Republican incumbents. Now, the crowdfunding campaign is powering a real war.

“It’s quite substantive. I haven’t heard about any bigger crowdsourcing for military hardware worldwide,” Atlantic Council Visiting Fellow Petr Tuma, a career Czech diplomat, told the Washington Examiner. “It’s really considerable, also, because we [have] only 10 million people in the Czech Republic. So, it’s huge.”

Those donations have enhanced a broader trans-Atlantic effort to provide a variety of weapons, such as shoulder-mounted anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles, that Ukrainian forces have used to punishing effect.

“Our brave defenders continue to inflict devastating losses on Russian troops,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a March 15 video address. “Soon the number of downed helicopters of Russia will reach hundreds of units. They have already lost 80 warplanes. Hundreds of tanks and thousands of other units of equipment. In 19 days, the Russian army has lost more in Ukraine than in two bloody and yearslong wars in Chechnya. For what?”

Zelensky has used the regular addresses from Kyiv as a way to provide visible leadership to embattled and beleaguered Ukrainians, for appeals to Russian citizens to protest against the war, and to press U.S. and European governments to provide more forceful assistance.

“Another difficult day, which is still approaching our victory. Approaching peace for Ukraine,” he said Tuesday. “As before, the enemy is confused. They did not expect such resistance. They believed in their propaganda, which has been lying about us for decades.”

Those wartime addresses have stirred analogies to Winston Churchill’s oratory during the Battle of Britain. And yet, as Czech defense officials and Ukrainian diplomats turn small-dollar donations into high-quality munitions, Zelensky has deployed another staple of modern electoral politics — the straight-to-camera technique often used to drive home a campaign’s most important messages.

“Russian conscripts! Listen to me very carefully,” Zelensky said in the latest broadcast. “I know that you want to survive. We hear your conversations in the intercepts, we hear what you really think about this senseless war, about this disgrace, and about your state. … Therefore, I offer you a choice. On behalf of the Ukrainian people, I give you a chance. Chance to survive. If you surrender to our forces, we will treat you the way people are supposed to be treated.”

This three-pronged messaging strategy may be having effects that he would not have expected when the war began. The war room updates have made Zelensky, in his olive green fleece jackets and T-shirts, into an international icon, to the point that other politicians while working on the crisis are perceived as imitating the Ukrainian leader.

French President Emmanuel Macron has worn immaculate dark suits for much of his public life. Now, as he tries to broker a ceasefire in Ukraine while running for reelection — French voters go to the polls in April — his official photographer has published photographs of Macron working late at night in casual clothes.

“Now I’ve seen everything: Macron is cosplaying Zelensky,” Anton Shekhovtsov, the director of the Vienna-based Center for Democratic Integrity, wrote on Twitter as the new-look Macron images circulated on social media. “Nothing bad about that, only confirms a very simple fact: Ukrainian president is now the moral leader of the West.”

Zelensky’s long political reach forced an uncomfortable American debate about weapons deliveries to Ukraine. After days of appealing for key NATO allies to transfer their Soviet-legacy fighter jets to Ukraine, Zelensky secured the endorsements of key Republican and Democratic senators. Their public support for the transfer of Poland’s MiG-29 fighter jets has persisted despite President Joe Biden’s misgiving that the delivery of the warplanes could provoke a retaliatory operation from Russia.

Czech Defense Minister Jana Cernochova announced Sunday that Prague “will at least double” the amount of military aid they provide to Ukraine. She underscored the determination to keep the aid flowing just hours after a Russian airstrike on the Yavoriv Combat Training Center near the Polish border — a Ukrainian facility used by the United States and other NATO allies, prior to the recent Russian offensive, to train Ukrainian forces.

“This is definitely one of the motivations; if you feel the backing, as a political leader, of your people, then you are still eager to do it,” Tuma said. “So some kind of cheering from the people, some kind of support for more of the engagement is precious and helpful.”

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov emphasized, two days before the Russian strike on the former training facility, that the military convoys are “legitimate targets” for Russian forces. Yet Kopecny dismissed that statement as a “truism” under the laws of war (“a nonessential statement that sounds like an escalation, but really is not,” he said) and insisted that NATO wouldn’t flinch due to the attack on Yaroviv.

“Practically, it doesn’t affect anything regarding what we do,” the Czech deputy defense minister said in the Sunday interview. “NATO is not afraid of Russia, in terms of being harassed or threatened or chased to a corner. We will defend NATO territory and every inch of it.”

Kopecny emphasized that “the feeling that I get and all around myself, myself including, is just more resolve to continue what we do.” Tuma, the Czech diplomat on a fellowship at the Atlantic Council, acknowledged that officials involved in such weapons deliveries feel “increasingly pressured” by the threat of Russian counter-operations.

“They feel more of the threat,” Tuma said. “It’s also more and more challenging for us to ship it there as the Russians control more of the ground. It’s still feasible, it’s still alright, but less and less options.”

U.S. and European allies often have touted the weaponry that they send to Ukraine, making explicit their provision of many of the missiles used to target Russian planes and tanks. Yet Kopecny declined to yield any details about the new equipment, “given the Russian measures and threats,” beyond underscoring that Czech officials are “aware of the needed technologies, of the needed materiel,” and trying to provide as much as possible.

“It’s everything they are using against the advancement of the tanks, against aerial bombardments,” he said. “It’s already a big pot of money, so that’s why we were really substantially helping the Ukrainians, also … it’s a tremendous help.”

He did not hide his pride that the crowdfunding campaign has surpassed the amount raised thus far by a pair of American celebrities who are providing humanitarian assistance to Ukrainian refugees.

“Mila Kunis, the actress, with Ashton Kutcher, they gave, like, $20 million — which is so much. And I was just pleased that we’ve actually raised more than that,” Kopecny said with a chuckle, before holding out hope they might join forces. “Of course, they are free to throw in a little more than the $20 million … on this account for this purpose, as well. Anytime.”

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Kunis and Kutcher have raised more than $21 million through a donation-matching campaign that they expect will generate at least $30 million to feed and house refugees. “It’s obviously not a competition,” Kopecny acknowledged. “It’s really about … spreading the word about this particular thing that is quite unique, as I was able to hear from all over the world.”