Just asking for a friend

[prodigitalson]

If an American man, 53 years old but a half marathon runner, with zero actual military experience but a really good shot with rifles, pistols and shotguns due to being raised in the rural south had about 5 grand in travel money and wanted to do everything he could to help the people of Ukraine, how would he go about it?

[relayerbob]

1. Contact the Ukrainian embassy in Washington DC

[LonePirate]

2. Donate to an organization helping Ukrainian refugees.

[mucifer]

3. I would try to contact Vote Vets and/or Malcolm Nance

[WhiskeyGrinder]

4. Ask the Ukrainian embassy, not DU. I would also encourage your friend to really think about

whether being "a good shot" means they're prepared to kill another person when the time comes, and whether they have the support after it's all over to live with what they might do.

[markie]

5. there are numerous links

someone here might have some real-life experience??

https://kyivindependent.com/national/want-to-help-ukraines-military-as-a-foreigner-heres-what-you-can-do/

[prodigitalson]

10. I will definitely pass this along

it's exactly the type of info my friend needs.

[gratuitous]

6. As Flannery Connor said about Dorothy Day

That's a long way to go to get shot at.

[lapfog_1]

7. contact the Ukrainian Embassy

they are signing up volunteers and will give him documents that allow him to join the civil defense.

but... no combat experience... it's one thing to shoot at targets... it's quite another if the targets shoot back (not that I have ever been in that situation). I would think twice about going.

[prodigitalson]

31. Not human targets, but moving living ones

Big difference I know but more than Sat at the range type stuff. My friend is not naive about the psychological implications of taking a human life and in fact that causes him more angst than the peril.

[JI7]

8. I think they want equipment more than people.

[ForgedCrank]

9. I'd tell your "friend" to

donate his 5K to any humanitarian relief he sees fit and be settled with the fact that there isn't anything else realistic that he can do.
If your "friend" heads over there to shoot at Russians, there's a good chance he's not coming back.
Maybe not a popular thing to say here, but that's going to be the final outcome if this thing isn't settled soon through diplomacy or concessions.

[prodigitalson]

11. he would say there are more important things than coming back nt

[markie]

20. ...

[Tetrachloride]

12. 5 K money might not be enough

triple check

[prodigitalson]

14. Plane to Warsaw and then some bus tickets? nt

[Tetrachloride]

21. Incidental expenses pile up.

I suggest a physical.

and ask a physical therapist on how to avoid muscle issues. i have a torn or inflammation muscle which still bugs me after 14 years.

Socks.

Foot pads.

plastic bags, including a few zip locs

20 feet of thin rope (laundry drying).

a roll of good fishing line. washers to make ends for fishing line.

vitamins: magnesium, zinc, D, C

a knife, a scissors

leather jacket

hooded sweatshirt

a large yellow handkerchief

dictionary

extra battery source

you may need to buy a new phone battery charger or 2

map

binoculars

get a crash course on infantry tactics from National Guards

crash course on first aid

ear plugs

double check everything here with the Guard officer

some gestures are a bit different in some countries. example in egypt, the gesture for finished as i am shopping or getting my booster shot

vaccines

dusseldorf airport is common for transfers. like a bowl of spaghetti. not too logical

laminated copy of passports, email, du password, phone numbers

copy of vaccines including corona

pcr test probably

rain, snow , cold

patience

[prodigitalson]

24. My friend spends weeks at a time in "the woods" and

already owns virtually everything in that list. Obviously it would cost money to fly it to Europe

[Tetrachloride]

25. Use caution on salty food. The more salt, the more water you have to drink

make sure to read my previous post

i am mainly brainstorming. i don’t have too much useful experience

if you go, better than me.

[prodigitalson]

26. You are thinking out loud

but they are good thoughts from a good place. My friend thanks you

[Bev54]

13. Could also follow and ask questions on the FB page Expats Ukraine

They have people helping and provide a lot of information to others. Here is also a recent article about how to go about it:

https://kyivindependent.com/national/to-combat-russia-ukraine-invites-foreign-fighters-heres-how-to-apply/

[prodigitalson]

15. thank you. nt

[Journeyman]

16. An inexperienced, untrained civilian on a battlefield can create serious issues . . .

for their comrades. Lives can be put in danger by both ill-formed decisions on the field and the need for others to attempt unforeseen rescues.

That said, every hand is welcome in an ass kicking competition, and wiser heads on the field can always find useful positions for all. Good luck, friend.

[prodigitalson]

27. Your point and counterpoint are well taken, thank you nt

[Goonch]

17. To contribute

https://savelife.in.ua/en/donate/

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

18. Does he speak Ukranian?

If not, communicating with Ukrainians will probably be a huge issue.

So yeah, sending that money to some other organization would be a better choice.

[prodigitalson]

19. english and spanish only

but a fast learner

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

22. Fast learner, not really good.

If he arrives not knowing word one of Ukrainian, he will be very handicapped. Plus, of course, their alphabet is a Cyrillic one, not the Roman alphabet we use here.

[prodigitalson]

23. Six week pimslure course nt

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

33. What in the world is

"pimslure course"? I'm guessing some sort of online language thing, and if he can take six weeks and actually becomes semi-fluent, that would be good. But honestly, a 53 year old is simply not going to learn a brand new language easily, or well. Trust me, I've been there at that age.

[prodigitalson]

34. It's a pretty effective listening/speaking program similar to DOD and DoS

programs. However it wouldn't teach one to read or write the target language.

[yagotme]

36. Is your friend going to be taking this course first, or while under fire?

First would be easier to learn, but where is Ukraine going to be in 6 weeks? Decisions, decisions....

[prodigitalson]

37. First

of course. But immersion is the best language learning tool so I'm guessing six weeks in Ukraine will be much more instructive

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

38. If he's 53 years old, he is simply not going to learn a new language that readily.

Someone is not being realistic here.

[MerryBlooms]

28. Your friend has an answer for everything, what's

Keeping him?

[prodigitalson]

29. Existential fear.

Please elaborate.

[MerryBlooms]

30. Well, you're answering throughout your OP

To every possible scenario mentioned, you already have a solution to all the suggestions... Why do I need to elaborate? You even have a crash course in Ukrainian planned.

[prodigitalson]

32. I don't know how to respond to that

sorry

[Bernardo de La Paz]

35. Buy Air BnB spots to house refugees and incoming 25 year old experienced military people

Whether used or not, it inject $5k into Ukraine directly without siphoning off money to airlines, intermediate hotels, Polish taxi drivers, etc.