How Ukrainian refugees are helping soldiers on the war front lines

By Flora Bowen via SWNS

Ukrainian refugees are selling intricately engraved spent missile shell casings from the front line - to buy infrared sniper rifles for soldiers.

Daria Ivanchenko, 31, fled Zaporizhia, Ukraine, in November 2022, and now lives with a family in Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK.

But she is determined to help friends and family on the front line defend their homes and set about raising money for supplies.

She is now organizing the sale of two "unique" 50 by 12.5cm heavy artillery shell cases left behind by Ukrainian soldiers.

The shell casings were given as a trophy to a military leader known only as "Vedmid" - "Bear" in Ukrainian - who managed the laser engraving of the shells.

Daria will then use the money to buy infrared thermal rifles for soldiers from specialized military hunting shops online, in the UK or Ukraine.

So far one has been sold at auction for £700 ($852 USD) to buy the rifles, which are being used to fight the Russian invaders today.

The sale is part of a wider trend where military trophies and detritus are converted into art objects and sold at offline and online auctions to raise money for the army's needs or humanitarian aid, Daria explained.

Daria, an architect and graphic designer from Zaporizhia, Ukraine, said: “All Ukrainian people think about what they can do every day.

"It’s a huge motivation for us.

"It can be humanitarian help or donating our clothes to some people who have lost their houses or maybe some equipment or military things. It's whatever we can do.

“We need to buy these devices as soon as possible, so we decided to fundraise.

“We don’t have enough time to wait. People from my hometown, Zaporizhia are marching and fighting near where I used to live.

“My parents still live in Zaporizhia now and I am trying to support my friends to overpower our enemy as they are right now on the front line of the battle.

“Ukrainians can be considered as volunteers. We are ordinary people. But we have to do something, not just official fundraising but also trying to solve the problems of ordinary soldiers.

"All Ukrainian people know that the Ukrainian government has received a lot of money from partners from other countries, but this money usually goes to large-scale projects and definitely cannot cover the problems of ordinary people on the front lines, like maybe transport or drones."

In August 2022, Daria was “on the verge of emotional burnout due to constant stress” so traveled to the UK with her friend Dara on the sponsored visa program, in November.

They moved in with carer Clare Fisher, 59, through the Homes for Ukraine scheme.

First Daria and Dara traveled from Lviv to Lublin in Poland, where they flew to Luton before Clare drove them to their new home in Stroud, Gloucestershire.

Daria said: “I left Ukraine with tears in my eyes."

Daria’s fiance, Ivan, a Ph.D. architecture student is still in Kharkiv, Ukraine where he helps his mother.

She said: “It is a dangerous city now and I am worried about it, but it is his home and there is no place like home.

“I have heard missiles going over the city where he is, and I'm scared. And I feel like I’m not strong because I thought it was really, really terrible.

“We hope that it will end as soon as possible. And that's why we should do something."

In August 2022 Daria helped to fundraise £500 ($609 USD) to buy a car in Ukraine for troops but said the men who needed the car died before they were able to make the purchase.

The money has gone towards buying infrared guns for a friend's military group, in Ukraine.

She is trying to raise £2,250 ($2,739) to allow her friend Oleg Koolinich, 31, to buy infrared thermal rifles.

The money raised from the shell cases, which are engraved with symbols of Ukrainian resistance, will go directly to buying essential weaponry for frontline troops where large-scale aid donations cannot reach.

Daria added: "I want to say thank you to people in the UK because it is really important for us.

"We can find a safe place here where I can build my life and I can recover.

“And I want to say that Ukrainian people appreciate your help. We appreciate your help for us. You know all Ukrainian people really love English people for the huge support. And I want to say thank you.

“We are strong. We have great motivation. We are smart and we can help you if you can help us.”

Information on Daria's fundraising can be found here.