PAV has hundreds of volunteers matched directly with donors to support their work in Ukraine. One of them was Tom Phillips, the team leader of Team Mongoose in GUR Legion, who was matched way back in 2023 and a very dedicated donor was supporting him ever since. Unfortunately Tom died of suicide recently. He was very respected by colleagues and will be deeply missed. His team is still continuing without him and Tom's donor is supporting them through a teammate now.
Mongoose is a heavy weapons team and you very likely have never heard of them because they have kept a low profile which has also meant they are not getting a lot of financial support. If you would like to directly match with them to help them keep going, the link is in the next tweet. A couple other teams in GUR Legion described Mongoose as "they are always working but got nothing."
Some years ago, I did an interview with VOA for 🇺🇦 Independence Day. They asked if I had a message for 🇺🇦. I did.
"Know. your. worth," I said.
A Ukrainian saying Ukraine finally does ... it's about time, 🇺🇦. Most of us figured it out a long time ago. ❤️
You know what the single most profound, far-reaching effect of Russia’s war against Ukraine is?
Ukraine has finally learned to truly respect itself.
We are no longer some godforsaken "Russia's backyard", where corrupt mafia clans don’t dare to make a sound without the Kremlin’s permission, and where everyone lines up to lick Moscow’s boots.
We are a nation that, in just a few years, built from scratch a capable army — the one that is now heroically fighting Russia, one of the largest military powers in modern history.
To stand up to such an adversary in the biggest war of our time, Ukraine has been sustaining World War I-scale mobilization and made revolutionary breakthroughs in military innovation.
Today, Ukraine possesses one of the most capable armies in the world, with cutting-edge, real-time experience in modern warfare—able to resist an enemy that is vastly superior in everything.
We have preserved a democracy and a brutally competitive political life like neither Russia nor any of its satellites country ever had.
Our president, once a populist comedian, has grown to be a leader of the free world—someone applauded by entire nations in the halls of St. Peter’s Basilica.
We are no longer the punchline of imperial Russian jokes. No longer “village bumpkins,” no longer “little brothers.” We have finally remembered who we are—descendants of the ancient Slavs, the Vikings, the Zaporizhian Cossacks.
Our capital is not a provincial town but a sacred, ancient Christian city—the beating heart of this part of civilization. And its holy sites belong to us. No one else.
We no longer feel ashamed of our language or our culture. No longer do we see them as “backward,” “provincial,” “second-rate,” as Moscow has insisted for centuries. We have long since broken out of Russia’s cultural orbit: there’s no more garbage Russian pop music on the radio, no endless cop shows from Moscow on TV, like we endured for decades.
Instead, in the midst of war, we’re witnessing a cultural renaissance unprecedented in our history—Ukrainian music, cinema, and literature are flourishing. In Kyiv, tickets to classic Ukrainian plays are sold out six months in advance.
We’re no longer a patchwork “post-Soviet country,” split between a “Russian-speaking southeast” and a “Ukrainian-speaking west.” We are a united nation. A person from Dnipro and a person from Lviv now share the same values, the same mission, the same grief, the same culture and history — and the same enemy.
People from Kharkiv fight the Russian invader just as fiercely as those from Ternopil.
No one laughs anymore at the idea of a Ukrainian navy— our naval drones have humiliated the Russian Black Sea Fleet. We shoot down enemy fighters. Our drones and missiles now strike oil depots, airfields, and ammunition bases across Russia nearly every night.
Ukraine is no longer a country you can show up to, toss some exploitative resource deal on the table, and sneer, “Sign this — you’ve got one hour.” No. Now you’ll be escorted out of the room with your hands shaking — and only after that will a balanced, civilized, mutually respectful agreement be negotiated. Yelling and threats no longer work here.
We are a country whose Chief Mufti has volunteered to become a combat medic at the front. Our Chief Rabbi works daily to advocate for Ukraine around the world. His son died in combat, defending Ukraine with a weapon in his hands.
Ukraine is now holding our ground — honorably —against a whole axis of evil: Russia, Iran, and North Korea. And Russia has suffered devastating defeats and drained its once-vast Soviet stockpiles of weapons and ammunition.
And along the way, we’ve shaken up global politics. We’ve earned the trust and support of dozens of nations. We’ve broken through walls of Western fear, hesitation, and passivity, the appeasement. Ukraine’s victory in the Battle of Kyiv in 2022 changed the course of European history when the best military minds were giving us 72 hours.
You can’t imagine how often we still find ourselves saying to each other, half in disbelief:
“Can you believe this? Who would’ve thought our poor Ukraine was capable of this?”
What more can I say?
Ukraine has already proven itself a great nation.
We have countless enormous problems—and they’ll require titanic effort to overcome.
But if we endure this war of annihilation, this country will have glorious future.
This is disgraceful, @washingtonpost. One candidate presents a clear, serious danger to our country and our democracy. Your refusal to refute it by endorsing his opponent is irresponsible and shameful.
https://t.co/8mvUAvXANh
How I spent 🇺🇦's Independence Day: organizing, inventorying, & packing donations & necessities purchased with your donations. Flying them to 🇵🇱 later this week, there to hand them off for delivery to 🇺🇦.
There's still so much more coming ....
🎂 It's my birthday! Please give 🇺🇦 presents! 🎂
Priority №1: TACMED.
$10K in high-demand tacmed for units supported by @uafrontline, @3xR_team, and @Doshka_F: https://t.co/P3xxxJvWIB
Steady supply for medic from 20 Days in Mariupol: https://t.co/ulZbacfXmb
⚡MAJOR FUNDRАІSER LAUNCH⚡
I have some BIG requests & need YOUR help! Fortunately, I have an anonymous donоr who has offered to match up to ‼️💰FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS💰‼️
HIGHEST PRIORITY NEEDS:
🛻 A truck for one of my units who recently lost several vehicles.
⚕️ Funds to help cover the cost of a defender's surgery & recovery (he's been at the front for 2.5 years & will go back).
🪖 Various items including generators, helmets, meds, etc.
To help, you can visit the link in my X bio or use any of these:
🔹501с3: https://t.co/KYfCFAX1WQ
🔹PаyPаl: @ paigeinkansas
🔹Vеnmо: @ PaigeBarrows