Ukrainians encouraged to buy foreign to show their gratitude to partner nations
With Ukraine facing the threat of fresh aggression from Russia, Ukrainians are being encouraged to buy goods produced by the nations that have provided Ukraine with military aid as a way to say “thank you.”
Hoping to start a new social media trend in Ukraine, the Ukraine Crisis Media Center NGO on Jan. 25 started to call on Ukrainians to “panic buy” items produced in the UK, the United States, the Baltics and other states that have provided military aid to Ukraine.
The rules are simple: participants buy any food or household item, such as a can of Spanish olives, a bottle of Canadian maple syrup, or a pack of English tea. Then they make an unboxing video and post it on social media, tagging the relevant embassies with the hashtags: #купуйдружнє #buyfriendly #Україна_вдячна_друзям #купуйудрузів.
Ukraine Crisis Media Center, which provides information about events in Ukraine and assists media organizations worldwide with their coverage of Ukrainian news, said it had developed the initiative “as a way to showcase the average Ukrainian’s appreciation for real, material support during a trying period of uncertainty for the country.”
Ukrainians also rallied on Maidan Nezalezhnosti in central Kyiv to personally thank Ukraine’s partners for recent deliveries of military aid. UK Ambassador to Ukraine Melinda Simmons posted on Twitter that she was “deeply moved” by the expression of thanks from Ukrainians.
The United States has provided Ukraine with four shipments of lethal aid so far, and discussions on more deliveries of aid are underway.
Ukraine has also received U.S.-made Stinger shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missiles from Latvia, and Estonia will also send U.S.-made Javelin anti-tank missile systems to Ukraine in the coming weeks.
In addition, the United States has delivered M141 Bunker Defeat Munition hand-held disposable grenade launchers to Ukraine, while a batch of NLAW (Next Generation Light Anti-tank Weapon) anti-tank systems were sent by the United Kingdom.
Canada is also considering sending military aid to a new, separate branch of the Armed Forces of Ukraine – the Territorial Defense Forces.
Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Google News
