In the UK the older generation who’d lived through World War Two speak of ‘Blitz Spirit’.

The ‘Blitz’ its what the British called the mass German bombing campaign against UK cities early in WWII, and the name has stuck. Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Coventry, Glasgow, Liverpool,  London, Manchester, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Sheffield, Southampton, Sunderland and Swansea all suffered heavy bombing over an eight month period between 1940 and 1941, with the intent of demoralising the civilian population. 40,000 civilians died, around 100,000 were wounded and 2,000,000 homes were damaged or destroyed. Bombing continued outside those eight months, and many more cities and towns were bombed, but that time period and those cities are what are generally termed ‘the  Blitz’.

What has that got to do with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine?

There’s strong similarities between the two, although they’re 85 years and the breadth of Europe apart. Failing to gain real traction in the ground war, occupying less Ukrainian territory now than in 2022 (20% vs 27%), having lost the majority of their armour and not gained control of the skies, Russia has resorted to bombing civilian cities & infrastructure across Ukraine with the same intent as Germany in WWII, to demoralise the civilian population. Bakhmut, Kharkiv, Kherson, Kryvyi Rih, Kyiv, Lviv, Mariupol, Maryinka, Odessa, Sievierodonetsk, Soledar, have all been attacked. The attack methods are different from the major aerial bombing attacks of WWII, having failed to control the skies Russia cannot send bombers over the majority of Ukraine, although  Russian planes launch ‘gliding bombs’ from Russian territory to hit cities closer to the frontier. Russian aircraft also launch cruise missiles targeting Ukrainian cities. But the majority of attacks are from a variety of drones, not the small electrically powered drones used to defend against ground assaults, but large drones with propellor or jet engines that can travel far greater distances and carry heavy bomb loads. These are joined by ballistic missiles that again carry significant warheads.

It’s perhaps interesting to note that in another echo of WWII Russia’s ‘Shahed’ drones and Iskander ballistic missiles are the 21st century equivalents of Germany’s V1 ‘doodlebug’ flying bombs and V2 rockets of 1944. But let’s get back to ‘the Blitz Spirit’.

Germany’s Blitz failed to demoralise the British public, in fact they ‘pulled together’ united by common hardship, and this unity and camaraderie is known as  ‘Blitz Spirit’.

The devastation Russian bombing inflicts differs from the Blitz in notable ways as a result of the differences in housing and infrastructure. Most urban Ukrainians live in apartment blocks with between three and nine storeys, rather than in the two storey terraced houses characteristic of many UK cities in the 1940s. The Ukrainian apartment blocks often have a single large heating unit serving the whole building, or multiple buildings, pumping water through a common radiator system. Whilst bombing during the Blitz was rather indiscriminate Russian drone and missile attacks are more accurately targeted, in many cases against the transformer network that distributes electricity, whilst others target these centralised heating plants. The result has been that 60-70% of electric power has been knocked out in major cities, and without electricity it’s not just the lights that go out (in which case, torches, lanterns and candles make temporary substitutes,) but the pumps that deliver water to homes stop working, hence sinks, showers and toilets don’t function, and the pumps that circulate heating water through buildings don’t work, at a time when daytime temperatures are -15C and nighttime -25C (which compares to -5C being a cold night during a UK winter). Hitting the heating plants does longer term damage, whilst power has so far been restored in 1-2 weeks, the heating plants if blown up will not be reparable (or in many cases replaceable) before summer. When the plants aren’t working (even just due to electrical outages rather than direct bombing) unless they are drained very quickly the freezing water bursts pipes and manifolds doing long term damage. Throughout apartment blocks any water filled pipes risk bursting and flooding the buildings when they thaw. The timing of this Russian ‘Blitz’ is not an accident, any more than the transformers and heat plants that are struck, the goal is clear, to freeze the Ukrainians into submission.

Bombing of homes and infrastructure aren’t the only similarity between the Blitz in the UK and the Blitz in Ukraine, the resilience of people is similar, the ‘Blitz Spirit’ comes to the fore. The Ukrainian government foster it with ‘Invincibility centres’

In London many people sheltered in the Underground, just as they do in Kyiv, others are in air raid shelters, some going into the shelters when the warnings are sounded, others choose to spend the night there and set up beds. There’s You-Tube videos of Ukrainians singing together on the underground to keep spirits up, a young girl went viral singing ‘Let it go’ in a bomb shelter, performers sometimes give ad-hoc concerts or recitals.

Let it go’ (in Ukrainian)

‘https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_zHOBaWfrg

On the frozen river Dnipro in Kyiv several hundred residents, from children to grandparents had an impromptu dance party to DJ sets powered by portable generators. This both raised spirits and kept people warm.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/gNgrwz1wLKw

The Ukrainian government and volunteer organisations have set up what are called ‘Invincibility points’, whether in tents, railway carriages or church cellars, they are a place where people can warm up, have a cup of tea or a hot meal, and charge the devices so important in modern life (truly important; in Ukraine warnings of missile and drone attacks are sent to mobile phone apps). For those in freezing homes without light or the ability to cook these are a lifeline, but for people living on higher floors, especially the elderly or infirm, getting to them (and returning home) is a great challenge when the elevators aren’t working.

Kyiv Invincibility Centre

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0ihLsxCdLo

Inside Kyiv’s ‘Invincibility Train’

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/cpqyn3p34l3o

Wherever people live, whatever era they live in, faced with hardship there’s always a need for shelter, food and camaraderie, and when people pull together to share those necessities something develops, call it ‘Blitz Spirit’ or ‘Invincibility’, it’s recognisably the same.

Ukraine embraced 3D printing for all sorts of needs early in the war. As explained elsewhere power outages have driven most of this out of Ukraine, though several small factories exist, generally powered by generators, for ‘rapid needs’.

But for drone operators on the battlefield ‘same day’ is often not fast enough. A broken rotor, fractured attachment point, a worn cog, all can result in vital equipment being out of use when it is most needed; i.e. NOW!

Accordingly the AFU have vehicles equipped with power banks, and with generators, that power in vehicle 3D printers, so parts can be produced as soon as damage is detected and equipment repaired in real time.

Knowing how to operate drones for various purposes is not enough, the. military need to know how to maintain and repair drones on or adjacent to the front line, and this is something that the AFU have learned through experience.

As the only ‘combat experienced’ military drone operators in Europe Ukraine have been sharing their expertise with other European militaries.

If you follow the below link from MSN it describes very well how the UK’s ‘Irish Guards’ have been trained by Ukrainian military to maintain & repair drones, including battlefield 3D printing.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/ukraine-showed-a-british-unit-that-it-needs-to-3d-print-drone-parts-and-be-able-to-do-it-close-to-the-fight/ar-AA1VEmEh

Ukrainian defenders use drones for a multitude of tasks, but so do the Russian invaders.

To cut off surveillance by reconnaissance drones, to deflect attacks by bombing or kamikaze drones Ukraine have developed a range of interceptor drones.

The article linked below is by journalist Simon Shuster of ‘The Atlantic’ and discusses Ukrainian innovations, including, briefly, their development of 3D printed interceptors.

https://www.theatlantic.com/national-security/2026/02/ukraine-drones-lasers-iron-dome/685944/

If you’re reading this you’re aware that we crowdfund production of equipment for the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU)

If that seems unusual to you this article should change that, crowdfunding is far from a new things and we are very far from unique in the context of helping Ukraine defend themselves against invasion.

This article only contains a small selection of crowdfunding campaigns, known to the author (and not even all of those), but all of them are ‘interesting’ and reputable. A link is included to each campaign, website or source. Some crowd fund for other organisations, for example ‘Jake Broe’ (below) raises funds for ‘Help99’ who operate with the ‘NAFO’ umbrella to provide equipment to the AFU. It should be clear from reading where there are intersections.

The ‘Crowd Funded’ War

Crowd-funding the defence of freedom has a long history, the war bonds of the world wars were only a recent chapter. The war in Ukraine is different, it isn’t just governments, ‘citizen’ projects are crowd funded too, of which the 3(r)d Printing Platoon is just one.

The Lowestoft, UK, Brewery ‘Green-Jack’ created a traditional ale called ‘Nightingale for Ukraine’, and donated money to a pro Ukraine UK charity called Pickups for Peace. Nightingale had originally been brewed during the Covid-19 pandemic to support temporary hospitals called ‘Nightingale Hospitals’ after Florence Nightingale ‘the founder of modern nursing’ who served in the Crimean war. As this war was to defend Crimea against the Russian empire it seems fitting that ‘Nightingale’ was revived to support a further defence against Russian aggression. Nightingale sold out, I hope they repeat it…. Every beer helps…

https://www.green-jack.com

The charity that ‘Nightingale for Ukraine supported, ‘Pickups for Peace’ is a UK charity, started by four Scottish/British farmers. It started with delivering four wheel drive vehicles donated by the farming community to Ukraine and now does that on a broader scale. They’ve delivered almost 800 vehicles so far, in 25 convoys, with about 1800 drivers making the long trip to Ukraine. A few individuals galvanising the agricultural community to pitch in….

https://www.pickupsforpeace.co.uk

Drones for Ukraine fund is a non profit organisation set up in Ukraine in 2022 hat to fund buying drones to supply the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Run by a small number of volunteer fundraisers it rewards donors with key fobs made from metal salvaged from downed Russian aircraft. There’s about 30 people involved in fundraising, with volunteer metalworkers in Ukraine making the key fobs. People are key…

https://www.dronesforukraine.fund/about-fund

NAFO, the North Atlantic Fellas Association is a (very loose) collective started by Kamil Dyszewski, a tiktok artist, who started posting pictures of a Shiba Inu dog dressed in clothes onto pro-Russia disinformation on social media. By the way, the dog is the ‘fella’. Offering to create further Shiba Inu dog images for people contributing to charities supporting Ukraine helped the practice spread, and it continues to. Tens of thousand of ‘fellas’ counter disinformation on-line and anyone making a donation to a Ukrainian charity can have their own fella created. As well as countering disinformation NAFO help keep the war in Ukraine alive in the headlines. NAFO has gained such prominence that military officers and senior politicians have joined NAFO and use their ‘fellas’ as avatars. From one man came a worldwide network… of dog-fellas…..

https://nafo-ofan.org/pages/we-are-nafo

The 69th Sniffing Brigade. The 69th is often mistaken for NAFO, and vice versa. Actually they’re the brainchild of Estonian tech entrepreneur Ragnar Sass who spotted NAFOs vast supporter base’s massive potential for fundraising for Ukraine. Joining NAFO and asking the community if people were interested in helping fund & deliver trucks to Ukraine the operation grew into ‘the 69th.’ Many social media creators launched their own campaigns under NAFO (see Jake Broe below) to raise money for four wheel drive trucks that are purchased, overhauled, re-sprayed in olive drab, and specially equipped in a dedicated workshop. They liaise with the military to deliver to their requirements and specifications, Some are kitted out as ambulances, others as drone command trucks, or mobile vehicle recovery workshops, many are troop and supply transports. All are equipped with drone jammers, night vision cameras, and new off road tyres, and then driven in convoys to Ukraine where they are handed over to front line troops. But it’s not just vehicles, they fund drones, secure radios, drone detectors, portable jammers, and donors often send gifts of food and sweets for front line troops. With about €20 million of completed projects, and 46 convoys (to the start of 2026) they are the ‘big beast’ of the crowd funding citizen projects supporting Ukraine. From one man with an idea came forth…. Millions

https://www.help99.co

Jake Broe:  Jake is a US Navy veteran who has a YouTube channel devoted to news and views about Ukraine. He has a massive following. For his 40th Birthday he decided to not just contribute truth about the invasion of Ukraine but to seek to send some tangible support. He chose NAFO’s 69th Sniffing Brigade. He set out to raise $40,000 (for his 40th, that’s the connection). His supporters donated very seriously and contributed over $1,000,000. He’s now done that five times (if I recall correctly) making him, to my knowledge, the ‘biggest beast’ of NAFO /69ths fundraising community. Just one guy,…..  hundreds of trucks,

https://www.youtube.com/@JakeBroe

Projekt Konstantin: Projekt Konstantin is an NGO founded by two ‘Brits’, South African born Peter Fouché and Ukraine born Tanya Millard, together with Ukrainian Halyna Zhuk. They were later joined by Jana Fourie in South Africa.

This story is inspiring, but at the same time brings tears to my eyes.

Project Konstantin provided Casevac operations, bringing military and civilians to safety from embattled areas. Two of the founders, Peter and Tanya, are now deceased. After Tanya’s death Peter asked Halyna and Jana to keep the operation going if anything happened to him. Peter died on the front line but Halyna and Jana honoured the promise they made to Peter and continue the project. Though no longer directly engaging in Casevacs they deliver equipment of many sorts directly to the front line and work closely with the military, medics and emergency crews.

For a project that has saved and continues to save so many lives, yet has lost so many friends and both of its founders I simply can’t add an italicised humorous tagline . I’ll just wrap up with Tanya’s words “Love fiercely. Live fully. Stand up for what is right”

I don’t do these folk justice, you need to follow the link and learn about them directly:

https://projectkonstantin.org

Greg Terry: Greg is an American ‘pastor’ (he says “I’m just a believer” but he has a ‘ministry’, so…..)

Greg was engaged in humanitarian work in both Russia and Ukraine until the Russian invasion, at which point he has concentrated on Ukraine, he’s completely dedicated to Ukraine now. He speaks Russian so his channel features him translating directly from Russian media and political/military sources, and also from Ukrainian sources. He was delivering truckloads of first aid kits, personal protective equipment, etc., for Ukrainian defenders, and drove the length and breadth of Ukraine, seeing the devastation first hand. He met and found friendships with many front liners in Ukraine, and understood exactly what they fight for and why, and he has developed a very clear view of the differences between the aggressor / invader (Russia) and the victim / defender (Ukraine). His videos of his trips often feature him translating directly from the Ukrainian defenders he meets. His deliveries have expanded into a broader range of defensive equipment for the soldiers, including drones, and sometimes munition components (plastic tail fins and housings, etc.)

As well as fundraising for his own humanitarian initiatives to deliver varied aid to Ukraine Greg fundraises for Projekt Konstantin, having forged a strong friendship with Peter Fouché.

I don’t feel comfortable finding a ‘tongue in cheek’ phrase to italicise here…..although Greg has a good sense of humour, so I’ll just say ‘Greg’s a good guy’

https://www.youtube.com/@GregTerryExperience

Professor Gerdes: Darin Gerdes (aka ‘the Prof’) is a tenured Professor of Business at an American University. He has a You-tube channel (‘Professor Gerdes Explains’) where he seeks to set out in terms everyone can understand what is going on in Ukraine, at a high level, both geopolitically and mlitarily, without going into the minutiae of ever metre of front line combat (as quite a few do!) The ‘Big Picture’ has more than enough subtlety to benefit from clarification. This, to be clear, isn’t ‘crowdfunding’, but it is ‘truth telling’ and his daily (and often multiple times a day) uploads contain far more information that can be found across the whole range of mainstream media channels combined. This, one can say, is ‘crowdfunding’  information, which is indeed important during wartime (we all know the adage “truth is the first casualty of war’..One thing I (the author) appreciate about his channel is that he aims to be absolutely balanced, he doesn’t let his own politics (old school Republican) cloud or skew his thinking; this is a hard task but in my opinion he succeeds. 

He is good friends with Greg Terry, and whilst ‘the Prof’ doesn’t fund raise independently he supports and jointly promotes Greg’s fundraising efforts. He also lists multiple links to other ways people can donate to support Ukraine, all of which are reputable and encompass every budget. So yes, eventually he does ‘crowdfund’ for Ukraine.

A humorous note about the Prof? This one’s easy:  just follow the link if you want to hear the world’s worst mangling of Ukrainian place names. The focus of war changes every now and then, so when eventually the Prof gets halfway close to decent pronunciation the focus changes and he’s back to square one. Truly, it’s astounding! 

https://www.youtube.com/@Professor-Gerdes