“People are tired, many have no money left”: Ukrainians are Donating to the Armed Forces much less

Ukrainians have significantly reduced their donations to the military.

This information reported by Bloomberg, citing the country’s largest charitable funds.

“To raise the same amount of donations, we have to work three times harder than in previous years,” said volunteer Serhiy Prytula. Donations to his fund have decreased by about 20% this year, while the “Come Back Alive” fund experienced a 15% drop, the Reactive Post fund saw a 40% decline, and collections by “Army SOS” have plummeted tenfold.

According to an August survey, more than a third of Ukrainians reported reducing their donations compared to the previous year.

Volunteers attribute this to the economic hardships facing Ukrainians, particularly due to power outages requiring the purchase of energy equipment, and also to a growing sense of war fatigue.

Charitable organizations cover only a small fraction of Ukraine’s military needs. For example, Prytula’s fund raised 1.4 billion hryvnias ($34 million) this year, a drop in the bucket compared to Ukraine’s military budget, which exceeds $50 billion.

In May, actress and volunteer Alla Martyniuk also noted a sharp decline in donations for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

“People are scared, exhausted, many have no money left, and the same few continue donating,” she said.

By the summer of 2023, soldiers had already observed a waning enthusiasm among donors. A serviceman raising funds for his unit told a Western publication that donations for the Armed Forces’ needs were declining, and online fundraising had “stopped being effective” as early as the beginning of 2023.