Volunteers filling gaps: how Serhiy Prytula Charitable Foundation works

The Serhiy Prytula Charitable Foundation has launched Civilian Preparedness Centers in 14 Ukrainian oblasts. They teach basic skills of firearms training, tactical medicine, and behavior in critical situations. In total, inspectors — mostly military with combat experience — conduct more than 20 types of training. The project specifically for civilians is aimed at improving the level of preparation of people for life in war conditions; determining which military specialization is most suitable in case of mobilization; gaining skills to participate in the guerrilla movement.

We talked to the head of the military direction of the Serhiy Prytula Foundation, Roman Sinitsyn, about the work of the organization. In the interview with hromadske, he talked about the types and quantity of equipment that is currently being purchased, complaints about the openness of the Foundation's reports, and Serhiy Prytula's plans for a political career. 

How have the requests from the military changed with the onset of cold weather? What do they ask for the most? 

In general, generators and stoves. They ask more for devices with thermal imaging optics. Also EcoFlow — stations where you can charge radios that work for 16-18 hours.

What generators do the military ask for? 

It depends on the tasks. Now we are in the process of contracting a 70-kilowatt generator. It is for the temporary control point of the brigade. It occupies the area of a minibus. If it is for a position or observation point, then small ones — 1.5-2 kilowatts to charge radios and tablets. We buy diesel and gasoline ones. Diesel ones are more expensive. But given the fact that the Armed Forces are "on diesel fuel", of course, more often they ask for diesel ones.

Are there any problems with winter clothing and footwear on the front line? 

There are problems with winter uniforms and equipment, but they are occasional. The Ministry of Defense contracts quite large volumes, and assistance is received from international partners. Perhaps somewhere in an untimely manner. In general, we do not deal with equipment. In April, we decided not to buy tactical equipment, clothes, shoes. Instead, we decided to concentrate on more important things — in our opinion.

So what exactly is the priority? 

Equipment that allows to change the course of the war in certain areas of the front. This is communication, we have recently purchased a batch of 990 radios. And also drones, transport, optics — all that is expensive. That is, the "eyes" and mobility of our warriors. Maneuverability is one of the keys to successful warfare. All-terrain and fast tracked or wheeled vehicles on the battlefield solve many problems.

Mobile groups with anti-tank light weapons — with LNG or Javelins — are extremely effective. They arrive, work and [retreat to positions]. Vehicles are also needed to transport the wounded. Therefore, we are actively investing and contracting transport non-stop. Since March — about 850 vehicles. These are mostly used cars from Europe. We also include buggies and various ATVs. I think that soon we will reach 1,000 units of such equipment.

In addition, we purchase quite expensive UAVs. They can cost $20,000 upwards per complex. PD-2, for example, can cost $1,300,000.

All UAV complexes are crucial for artillery to inflict fire damage. Both cannon and rocket artillery. We are extensively helping individual artillery brigades (we have four or five of them) and rocket brigades. Earlier they had "Smerch", and now they have HIMARS. Not only with "birds", but also with transport.

We especially like to help the artillery, because the effectiveness of their work is immediately noticeable. As well as the units of anti-aircraft missile forces. Because one missile shot down by a mobile crew to which we gave a pickup truck or a Starlink means dozens or hundreds of lives saved.

How is the procurement process going? 

We hold weekly meetings. Based on the requests of the units, we increase the volume of certain purchases. We buy Mavic drones and generators non-stop. Now 200 generators are in the process of contracting, negotiations on 400 more are ongoing.

We deliver the equipment even to Bakhmut, anywhere, and give it directly to the military. Every day we process over 10 applications.

We also assemble first aid kits and medical backpacks. Another direction is briefings. If there is a request for 100-200 first aid kits, then our instructors go to the training ground and teach the military how to use them. This can take several days. And then we send the batch to the unit. We do this because for an untrained military this first aid kit will not make much sense.

Sometimes in comments on social media, your critics write that the Foundation allegedly spends money on the wrong things.

We buy what the military asks us to buy. We communicate with the military at the battalion, brigade and sometimes company level.

We have close contact with the Ministry of Defense. They can point out certain needs. The story with tracked vehicles is a request from the Ministry of Defense. The story with the satellite is a request of the Ministry of Defense.

I can't help but ask about the satellite's work. What is the feedback from the military on it? 

The statistics published recently by the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine will tell you the best about it. The number of detected targets is measured in thousands. In general, we cooperate quite closely with intelligence. We help a huge number of their units, the famous Kraken is among them. We provide equipment, UAVs.

How much of the Armed Forces' needs are covered by volunteer funds? 

I would not overestimate the contribution of volunteer funds. Of course, they help a lot, but in the context of procurement by the Ministry of Defense and assistance from international partners — we are talking about some percentages. Volunteer funds fill the gaps. Say, the Ministry of Defense cannot contract those Mavics, and this is almost the primary means of surveillance at the front.

Why can't it? 

Firstly, they are not in service, and secondly, it is a Chinese company, and there are difficulties with their policy.

Critics also claim that the Foundation has no accountability. Recently there was a discussion about the prices of Spartan armored personnel carriers.

We will bring and show everything. This is not a process that lasts a week.

On the website of the Foundation there is no reporting on everything you buy. Why is it so?

On the Foundation's Facebook page, we publish reports on deliveries to certain areas, and branches of the army — with the cost and quantity of the purchased equipment. As for the website, it is in process. It will come in the future.

Information on social media is not systematized, so it is more difficult to evaluate.

You see, the Foundation is being built "from the ground up", and all these processes are being adjusted. Until February 24, we dealt mostly with humanitarian problems. Reporting on the site will come soon. It will cover everything we have purchased since the beginning of the war.

Prytula and [volunteer and activist Serhiy] Sternenko together raised 352 million for kamikaze drones. The founder of the Foundation himself promised: there will be a lot of “pops”. What did this money go to?

The funds that we raised for revenge are already working. We have contracted 50 RAM II drones with ground stations for a little over UAH 100 million ($2.7 million). The vehicles are already being transferred to the units.

For UAH 252 million ($6.8 million), we chose "options" with which the Ukrainian military will take revenge on Russia. They are all Ukrainian-made. When we have the opportunity, we will publicly tell about the results of their work.

You have a law degree and are the head of the military direction of the Foundation. This probably requires a good knowledge of technology. How did you come to this? 

I mostly perform managerial functions. We have a number of specialists in their narrow niches. People who are engaged in the repair of trophy equipment. We have already repaired more than 10 tanks. There are people who deal with digital communications. In each of the areas we have specialists with great expertise and experience.

I was engaged in military volunteering from 2014 to 2016/2017. And it so happened that I returned again — with the beginning of large-scale aggression. I have basic expertise, but we have people who really understand each direction. I was assigned to deal with the military direction because of my contacts from previous volunteering experience. I know many battalion and brigade commanders.

One of the areas of the Foundation's work is the repair of trophy equipment. Do I understand correctly that the state does not cope with this?

No, it does not. The state repairs a significant part of it, but in fact, a lot of different equipment has been taken as trophies. Especially after the offensive in Kharkiv Oblast, there were many requests from the military such as: "We have two tanks here, help us fix one out of two". We found enterprises where this equipment is "put back on its feet", and then it is successfully used to fight the Russians.

I would have thought that enterprises that can do something like this should be part of the military-industrial complex. 

In our case, one of the enterprises that now repairs T-64 or T-72 tanks, before the full-scale invasion repaired tractors, diesel locomotives. That is, only civilian equipment. During the war, they learned to do it properly. Repairing military equipment is not so difficult. The principle is the same, but it has its own specifics.

How do you cooperate with other foundations, for example, with "Come Back Alive"? 

The goal of our foundation and all others is to help the Armed Forces of Ukraine to kill as many Russians as possible. And everyone is collectively engaged in this. We coordinate with "Come Back Alive" and other large foundations on the transfer of property to certain units. That is, we coordinate and share information about what has been transferred to where in order to allocate resources with the greatest efficiency.

You communicate quite closely with Serhiy Prytula. We remember that a party was created before the war. Do you have any plans for future political activity now?

Let's win the war first. Now we do not talk about politics at all. Neither Serhiy, nor we with him. This issue is not on the agenda. In the worst case scenario, we can lose the state. So we are working to prevent this from happening. We need to work as much as possible to make it a story of victory. Victory is the collapse of Russia as an empire. Nobody knows when it will happen. Perhaps in a few years, or perhaps in a month.

The head of the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine Kyrylo Budanov said that we can enter Crimea by the end of spring. 

I am less optimistic. I constantly communicate with commanders of military units. Not everything is as good as it seems to many. There are a number of problems with personnel, with equipment. These problems are sometimes big. I am talking about losses, first of all. There are problems with weapons, but the main thing is people. If this continues, with the same intensity, it is obvious that we will need to conduct additional mobilization.