Sky Defense

A New Way to Save Lives in Ukraine

Since Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, it has fired wave after wave of missiles, bombs, and drones at Ukrainian civilians and at the structures that allow them to live: their homes, their businesses, their water supply, their energy infrastructure.

Ukrainians have reacted with determination and innovation. They have developed an extraordinary set of systems to detect and destroy incoming projectiles and thereby save lives. They are pioneers in this.

Thanks to the fundraisers organized by my friends at United24, readers of this newsletter have contributed to initiatives have helped to build up these systems. In doing so, you certainly saved many lives -- and helped Ukrainians to understand that they are not alone.

At this moment in the war, the need for air defense is pressing. Stymied at the front, Russia has accelerated its attacks on civilians behind the lines. In March alone Ukrainians had to handle several thousand attacks. On certain days the numbers of launches go into the hundreds.

Sky Defense, the initiative I am supporting now, is about bringing all of the components of Ukrainian air defense together. It funds what is needed where it is needed, while building a complete network over the entire country. The Ukrainians know what they need to do; they just need a little help to get there.

The amount that we are trying to raise, $500,000, is tiny by comparison to the military budget of a big country. A superpower at war will spend that in seconds. But because Ukrainians know how to use apply scarce resources to pressing needs, Sky Defense will go a long way

When one gets through. But they can be stoppsed. (Rescue workers in Kyiv.)

Of course, $500,000 will seem like a lot of money for any one reader! But anything that you can contribute will help. In past campaigns, we have reached such targets thanks to help of thousands of people.

I often get asked what we can do to help democracy. And there are many answers -- and this is one of them. Supporting Sky Defense will save lives and change the way Ukrainians experience life, for the better. But it is also helps defend a country where basic freedoms are observed from unabashed dictatorship that is carrying out a war of atrocity.

The war in Ukraine is the largest military conflict the world has seen since 1945, and that is significance enough. But the defense of Ukraine from Russian invasion is also part of a larger struggle, one that touches all of us. Please contribute if you can, and please share this post with others who might be interested.