A team of volunteers made up of Ukrainians, Europeans, and Americans is retrofitting civilian vehicles into battle trucks.
The team, spearheaded by Ivan Oleksii, a 25-year-old esports analyst originally from Kherson, southernUkraine, is working to equip the Ukrainian military with retrofitted cars from around Europe.
Since starting the project in March, the team has fully refitted 60 vehicles and has another 15 in progress to supply the Ukrainian army.
The retrofit process was explained by Oleksii. Truck models that are parked on the street are transformed into vehicles that can attack Russian tanks.
He told Insider that they first looked for second-hand diesel trucks with 2.0l engines that were around 5,500. The Jeep Gladiator is one of the models favored by the public.
Vehicles are usually purchased from Germany, Poland, or the UK.
Their money is raised through their website.
One of the most important parts of the refitting process is the addition of a second layer of metal plate.
According to Oleskii, there have been a few cases when the vehicle has been attacked, but it has protected the soldiers and saved lives.
The trucks are decorated with a Ukrainian flag and a slogan.
War-Stop.com was created by Oleksii and Ivan Karbashevskyi and allows anyone to purchase supplies for the Ukrainian military.
We have a way to make a difference.
Oleskii was exempt from fighting in the armed forces because of his medical condition.
I wanted to do this project to make a difference. You buy a car, fix it, arm it, put the thing on the back to hold machine guns, and then have a burnt Russian tank.
Oleksii says that his parents are still trapped. He describes the new normal as phone calls to his father, who is in Russia. When asked if his family is safe, he said everyone has their arms and legs.
Cars4Ukraine is important to him. He said that if something can be done to de-occupy the territory, they will do that.
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