On Wednesday, the 25th of January, the first public Latvian donation consisting of 9 ATVs, 9 specialised combat platforms, as well as four military scooters worth a total of EUR 323 148.30, put together thanks to a campaign organised by Ziedot.lv platform was sent to Ukraine after a festive event.
This is the first shipment of Latvian-made military equipment sent to Ukraine. The shipment was sent on its way by Latvia’s new Minister of Defence Ināra Mūrniece, Ukraine’s ambassador to Latvia Oleksandr Mischenko, as well as representatives of Ukrainian armed forces.
«We are truly proud of our Latvia-made military products – battle support platforms, military ATVs, UAVs, vests, generators, military scooters, off-road vehicles, devices for neutralisation of non-detonated munitions. Today we are happy to send Ukrainian fighters Latvian-made military equipment and vehicles. We hope all this will help Ukraine get one step closer to victory,» stressed Latvia’s Minister of Defence in her speech.
The money donated as part of Ziedot.lv campaign Labas ziņas [Good news] was used to provide Ukraine with Mosphera military scooters, which have good off-road capabilities. Their top speed is 100 km/h. A full battery is enough to cover a distance of up to 300 km. Military scooters will be especially valuable for Ukrainian scouts and special forces.
These scooters are manufactured by Liepaja company Global Wolf Motors.
LV-Teh is another Latvian company involved in the supply of aid to Ukraine. This company manufactures wheel-mounted battle platforms. They can be easily mounted onto ATVs to serve specific needs: evacuation of the wounded, anti-air defence, launching UAVs, or transportation of mortars or their munitions.
In two months since the start of the campaign Ziedot.lv received EUR 439 768 from residents. This money was used to procure Latvian-made military equipment and vehicles to be sent to the Ukrainian army. There are eleven domestic Latvian companies prepared to supply the necessary military equipment: Vāģi, Edge Autonomy, Biedrība Bruņotava, Kronis, LV-Teh, Brasa Defence Systems, Global Wolf Motors, Teters, Rīgas dīzelis D, Atlas Aereospace and Baltic Bullet. Other businesses are invited to joint in and contribute. The list of goods to be procured using donations is open for expansion. (More about Latvian-made military products can be found at ziedot.lv/labaszinas.)
«Fighting is intense. This is why Ukrainian army requires different forms of aid.
Strategic planning, reconnaissance, troop equipment, as well as other items are highly important.
This is why we greatly value the responsiveness from Latvia and its people, and we hope this shipment will soon help support Ukraine’s defenders on the battlefield,» said Oleksandr Mischenko.
Using donations from Latvian residents, Ziedot.lv has provided Ukraine with support worth at total of EUR 16.5 million so far. EUR 8.3 million was diverted towards support of Ukrainian armed forces, purchasing various drones, jeeps, chainsaws, radios, night vision equipment, armoured vests, helmets, tactical gear, MREs, fuel, Latvian-made generators and adapted ATVs.
EUR 4.2 million were diverted towards 100 humanitarian shipments containing food, hygiene and household goods. EUR 2 million was used to procure medical goods for Ukrainian hospitals and territorial defence units. Another EUR 2 million was used to support Ukrainian refugees in Latvia.
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