TheVoiceOfJoyce What started out as a joke, to raise money for a history textbook, for Elon Musk, became a serious procurement effort by Ukrainian citizens and the NGO for an armored vehicle. With the tagline “ Grab them all” , the Serhiy Prytula charity has purchased 50 decommissioned FV103 Spartans from private hands and they are being transported quickly to the Ukrainian battlefield. Both Mark Hamill, from Star Wars and Timothy Snyder, the historian, have agreed to be the ambassadors for these private efforts. Crowdfunding armaments is very successful and is separate from Government pledges. “We the People “💪🏼

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www.theguardian.com/world/2022/nov/03/a-joke-that-went-out-of-control-crowdfunding-weapons-for-ukraines-war

The fundraising appeal for the armoured vehicles – tagline “Grab them all” – had only been launched on Wednesday by the Serhiy Prytula charity foundation, named after its founder, a popular comedian and TV presenter with a sizeable online following.

It had been hoped that the $5.5m (£4.8m) required for the major purchase would be secured within a week.

Within nine hours, half of the funds had been pledged by donors, ranging from private individuals to big Ukrainian corporations and smaller high street firms, such as the bedding company World of Mattresses.

By lunchtime on Thursday, there was no need to continue pumping out the calls for cash, and the social media memes that had made much of the conceit of the coming battle between Spartans and Persians, a wry nod to the Iranian kamikaze drones that have been plaguing Ukrainian cities in recent months.

The money was secured, and the logistics of getting the tracked vehicles on to the muddy plains of the Donbas in eastern Ukraine was being put in motion.

The British army has been using FV103 Spartans since 1978 but they are being phased out for newer designs. The 50 on sale are in private hands and each is said to have fewer than 10,000 miles on the clock.

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