Lithuanians came together to buy an Bayraktar advanced military drone for Ukraine and raised EUR 5 million needed for the purchase in just over 3 days.
The target amount was raised by ordinary civilian people, mostly in small donations of 5-50 euros, though there were also some large donors.
For example, a private person donated EUR 30.000 right before the EUR 5 million threshold was reached.
According to Andrius Tapinas, the presenter at the local internet broadcaster Laisvės TV, hundreds of thousands of people came together in an unprecedented drive to raise money.
Everybody now knows the story of an old lady who asked her granddaughter to transfer €500 euros on her behalf, insisting that she will pay her back in cash, or the one of the eight-year-old kid who emptied his savings, said Tapinas
The drone, manufactured by Turkey, was chosen as a target due to its proven effective performance in recent years against the Russian military in conflict in Syria and Libya.
Its acquisition is being led by Lithuania’s Ministry of Defense, who has agreed with Turkey on the purchase and is planning to sign an intent to buy this week.
Lithuania, one of the strongest supporters of Ukraine in its war against Russia
The non-governmental organization, Blue/Yellow, is the second largest foundation in the world supporting the Armed Forces of Ukraine as it has raised more than 25 million euros since the beginning of the war.
A month ago, Lithuanians did another fundraiser to help arm Ukraine — they donated 330,000 euros and bought Estonian drones for artillery targeting.
The drones — Magyla 1 and Magyla 2 — were named after the goddess of death in Lithuanian mythology.
