Ukraine is crowdfunding to raise money for its armed forces as it faces down one of the biggest militaries in the world.
National Bank of Ukraine set up a special account on Thursday where people from around the world can send money in major currencies to Ukrainian soldiers.
Come Back Alive, a non-profit based in Kyiv, said it raised 20.5 million hryvnia ($673,000) in one day to support the army, according to a Facebook post. Army SOS is accepting donations and equipping the military with new technology such as tablets, according to posts on its Facebook page.
"You helped the military more yesterday than you did in 2021," Come Back Alive posted on Wednesday.
The amounts raised are minuscule compared to Ukraine's military budget, which was about $3.9 billion in 2021. Lawmakers agreed to increase defense spending by about $870 million earlier this week. Russia spends more than 10 times as much as Ukraine on defense.
Western allies said Thursday afternoon that they expect Kyiv to fall to Russian forces in a matter of hours. Putin's end game is seen as removing the government in Kyiv to install a puppet regime.
Nonprofits and volunteer soldiers have been central to Ukraine's fight against Russia dating back to the annexation of Crimea. Come Back Alive, which started in 2014, has a charitable foundation that has previously helped equip Ukrainian forces with military vehicles, surveillance systems and more, according to its website. As of 2019, it had spent about $5 million on equipment.
Commercial money-transfer platforms like Wise have also seen a surge of interest. Wise is currently limiting transfers to Ukraine to the equivalent of 200 euros ($224) because it is "more difficult" to operate their service right now, the company said on Twitter. It intends to lift the limit as soon as possible. A spokesperson for the company declined further comment.
Representatives for National Bank of Ukraine, Come Back Alive and Army SOS didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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