Ukraine's Home-Front Helpers
- By RFE/RL
Throughout the Russian invasion, Ukrainian civilians have been volunteering and working to make vital hardware for their country’s war effort.
1
Kyiv locals make candles on October 30 for use in the trenches.
2
Sources of light on the front lines are becoming increasingly valuable amid Russian strikes targeting Ukraine’s critical infrastructure as the nights get longer during the winter months.
3
Workers with newly assembled buggies that were designed and made in a workshop in Kryviy Rih, central Ukraine, in September.
4
Buggies are prized on the battlefield for the open design that offers easy mounting and dismounting for fighters, a nearly unobstructed field of fire, and the vehicles’ ability to turn tight circles when a fast retreat is needed.
5
Blacksmith Anton Zaika shows off a newly made stove in his workshop in Sumy in August. The wood-burning stoves were designed by the 32-year-old specifically for use in the trenches as a source of warmth and as a cooking device.
6
A volunteer weaves camouflage netting inside a bomb shelter in Kyiv in April. The netting is used by both sides to hide vehicles and troops from drone cameras.
7
Handmade camouflage netting laid out in a courtyard in Lviv in September.
8
Volunteers in Kyiv in June pack plant-based products that will be sent to vegan front-line soldiers.
9
Andriy Paliy prepares materials that he uses to produce armor plates at his workshop in Zaporizhzhya in May. Before the invasion, the self-taught blacksmith made swords and medieval suits of armor but now he makes ballistic protection for the Ukrainian military.
10
Locals from Lviv construct anti-tank obstacles in March. The “Czech hedgehog” tank barriers are favored for being easy to move on and off roads. They are also able to withstand explosions -- even if blasted into the air, the barriers bounce back to earth and remain effective.
11
Ukrainian women making tactical vests in the port city of Odesa in March.
12
A Ukrainian man grinds the edges off an armor plate that was upcycled from the leaf spring of a vehicle's suspension system. This photo was taken in the Zakarpattya region in March.
13
A man fills sacks with sand as part of preparations for the defense of Kyiv as the Ukrainian capital was surrounded by Russian forces in early March.
14
A volunteer prepares meals for soldiers and members of the territorial defense defending the eastern city of Kharkiv in March.
