Lithuanians living in Belgium and Luxembourg have come up with a way to help the Ukrainians at war – by buying and constructing drones to go to the front. Volunteers say they have received positive feedback from the Ukrainian soldiers and could expand production if they had more money.
After the day’s work, volunteers head to another job. A group of Lithuanians assemble drones that will soon be heading to the front in Ukraine.
“An initiative was born in Brussels and Luxembourg among people who care about Ukraine’s struggle for their freedom and Europe’s freedom,” says Bartas Trakymas, a volunteer at Wings For Europe.
Volunteers are raising money for the drones themselves and are looking for support from other sources. Companies also contribute. Those who donate a few hundred euros – roughly the cost of a single drone – are gifted special artwork by Lithuanian artist Edita Suchockytė and can pick the name of the drone.
Volunteers are not drone specialists by profession. They learn everything on their own. It can take a novice half a day to collect a few drones, but more skilled volunteers work much faster.
Virgilijus keeps a close eye on the newcomers. He mainly works on the last stage of the assembly – the software.
“It depends on the person, some people catch on quite quickly, others find it more difficult. In general, you need quite a lot of knowledge, you need to understand what the components do, how they need to be programmed and why,” says Virgilijus Jasiukevičius, another volunteer at Wings For Europe.
The end result is a ready-to-fly drone that is going straight to Ukraine.
“It’s quite a big drone, it can carry quite heavy loads. It can do many things, it can be used for reconnaissance, but mostly it is used for other purposes – whatever is most needed,” explains Trakymas.
These are the drones that are currently being requested by the Ukrainians, with whom the volunteers are in regular contact. The goal now is to promote the initiative not only in Lithuania but also abroad.
“It is very important in all areas – both to raise more funds and when we have the funds, we will be able to produce more drones,” notes Wings For Europe volunteer Kotryna Vilnonytė.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently announced that the country has the capacity to produce 4 million drones per year. They have long been an important part of Ukraine’s defence, but with the uncertainty surrounding the supply of Western weapons, more drones will be needed.
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