Some time ago the TRC published  a blog about a visit to Estonia by Gillian and Willem Vogelsang. They wrote about the local production of camouflage netting for Ukraine. Last week the TRC IT-consultant, Jonathan Visser, who currently carries out volunteer work in Ukraine for several local organisations, sent us the following appeal for support:

Kitty Pechersk (Печерські котики, 'The kittens from Pechersk') is a volunteer community based in Kyiv, Ukraine, which plays a significant role in the provision of vital fabric-based items to the Ukrainian military. This collective has been producing, by hand, camouflage nets, ghillie suits, helmets, and paraffin trench-candles since the start of the Russian invasion in early 2022.

Group of volunteers of Kitty Pechersk.

Ukrainian and international volunteers work around the clock, seven days a week, cutting and preparing fabric, before strips of textiles can be woven into camouflage nets and kikimori (military camouflage suits). They have produced over 40,000 square metres of camo nets to date. The many tokens of appreciation from soldiers from the front, which decorate the walls at KP underscore how essential and important their work is for the safety and protection of the soldiers against the daily attacks they must endure.

I had heard of their work and how inclusive and hard-working they were, before I even arrived in Ukraine. I and every other international volunteer I met there are proud to have been a part of this volunteer community. KP is a great place for an individual volunteer with no knowledge of the Ukrainian language. You will be made very welcome as well as meeting like-minded English-speaking volunteers, making it easy to hit the ground running once you arrive. If you are not in Kyiv or unlikely to go anytime soon, then donations help significantly too! There are considerable costs to buying materials and running operations on a daily basis.

Together with friends, we are currently raising funds to cover the cost of a new cloth-cutting machine. This machine will cut basic rolls of fabric into the specific-sized strips that are required to make the camouflage items. The original way of producing these is manual, very time-consuming, dangerous, and requires the effort of multiple people, and therefore, is slower and creates challenges in production. The new machine is much safer, will be motorised and able to be run from an independent power supply to operate around the continuous blackouts, and able to be run by a single person, cutting down production time by an estimated 80%. This machine will literally help save lives and only costs 1000 euros, as it’s designed and built by volunteers!

We would be truly grateful for any donation you are able to make, no matter the amount. Volunteers on the ground donate their time and energy, so cash donations are a great way to support KP for those who are unable to volunteer. 100% of the donations received will go towards covering the cost of the materials used to build the fabric-cutting machine. If donations surpass 1000 euros, extra funds will be directly transferred to Kitty Pechersk to help cover any other costs of their operation or towards the production of more of these machines. So you can rest assured that your donation is guaranteed to support Kitty Pechersk and to help provide safety for those who so urgently need it!

You can donate directly through the following Bunq bank account which can be opened here.

Information about  Kitty Pechersk and other Ukrainian volunteer projects can be found here.