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Four Newry men have joined friends from across Ireland to launch an appeal to support a Kyiv man and his friends recently enlisted to defend their district in the city. Gerry McAlinden, Seamus McAleavy, Donal O’Hanlon and Tommy Fegan are behind the initiative locally.
Tommy Fegan said "Oleg (36) and his friends are defending their families, friends and community from the imminent onslaught of the world’s most notorious and well-equipped aggressors, Vladimir Putin and the Russian Army in whatever way they can. The appeal aims to raise at least £5,000.00 to provide protective wear and other vital clothing for Oleg who, until last week, worked as a consultant on an international good governance programme."
Oleg and his friends – IT professionals, designers, photographers and doctors – are now volunteers in the Ukrainian 128 Territorial Defence Battalion, based on the left bank of Dnipro in Kyiv. They are working to protect their families, friends and community from the onslaught of Vladimir Putin and the Russian Army.
Normally a quiet residential area with a park shared by runners and mothers walking their kids, the area’s roads are now blocked by check points and army patrols are walking every street. Citizens sleep in bomb shelters or seek shelter anywhere they can when the municipality app sends a notification of an attack to their phones.
The 128th Battalion is composed of amateurs who joined their local defence forces on the spot in an urgent bid to protect the area in which they live. Within hours of signing up, they were each given basic arms and limited ammunition to mount checkpoints and prepare for street fighting when the Russians arrive. But they have no protective clothing.
The Irish group of friends – based in Newry, Louth and Cavan – have pledged to raise funds to provide armoured plates, knee and joint protection and other vital clothing Oleg and six of his friends in Kyiv.
The group is seeking urgent donations, which can be made to the following bank account:
Thomas D'Arcy McGee Foundation CLG
Sort Code; 93-13-73
Acc. Number; 01051 - 197
BIC: AIBKIE2D
IBAN: IE15 AIBK 9313 7301 0511 97
Procurement procedures are in place, and safe delivery details agreed with the groups of volunteers in Poland and Ukraine.
Around £5,000 is needed urgently
