Another ambitious fundraiser initiated by Ukrainians for the Armed Forces of Ukraine was completed in 33 hours: 200 million hryvnias or about £4.8 mln (almost $5.5 mln) was raised for the procurement of 50 FV103 "Spartan" tracked armored personnel carriers.
However, the initial plan was surpassed, and so currently a procurement of 60 "tankettes" at once is discussed. According to the organizer of the fundraiser Serhii Prytula, volunteers are currently discussing the deal with British partners.
Read more: Characteristics of the FV103 Spartan "Tankettes", and in How They Can Help Ukrainian Army
Since the initial milestone was reached with surplus, the Prytula Foundation will allocate the rest of the money (almost $11 mln) for the next project which will feature buying more "very armored something", say the volunteers.
As a reminder, the Spartan is a small armored personnel carrier that can carry four troops in addition to the crew of three. In the British Army, those are used to carry small specialized groups such as reconnaissance teams, air defense sections and mortar fire controllers.
Great Britain has already provided 35 such vehicles to the Ukrainian army, and they have "proven to be a great success on the battlefield", as noted by The Guardian. But as winter approaches, the Ukrainian military needs more of those.
"The base is tracked and due to that fact it can move around in bad weather conditions because we have rain almost every day right now during the autumn season," explains Maksym Kostetsky, the transport direction coordinator at the Prytula Foundation.
"It’s going to start snowing soon, and the Spartans will be very good on the frontline on south of the country and especially in Donbas where the heaviest fighting is going on right now."
It is noted that Serhii Prytula himself had visited the UK before announcing the fundraiser to check the Spartan vehicles out, as we can see in the following video.
Read more: Fundraised by the Czech, Modernized T-72 Avenger is Going to Ukraine (Photo)
