Freedom is Action: A Campaign for Ukraine
A fundraiser for life-saving drone-jamming cars and trucks
Timothy Snyder
Oct 12, 2025
The war in Ukraine is a war of drones, of mechanical pain and death from the sky. The body adjusts. For example, nocturnal urban machine-gun fire is comforting, because it means that Russian drones are being shot down, drones that might otherwise kill you.
Ukrainian civilians who are close to the front are hunted by Russian drones and murdered. In Nikopol, which I visited a month ago, Russian drone operators have used civilian automobiles for target practice and have targeted and killed babies in strollers.
On the battlefield, Russia uses drones to kill wounded Ukrainian soldiers and to destroy the ambulances and other vehicle sent to evacuate the wounded. Anywhere near the front, Russian drones are a threat to the vehicles in which Ukrainian service members travel.
Readers of this substack, Thinking About, have been great contributors to three campaigns by the presidential platform United24. We have raised funds to protect Ukrainian cities from Russian attacks; to purchase armored evacuation vehicles; and to fund robots that can evacuate the wounded. Thank you. The work that we have done together has saved many lives, and has helped Ukrainians feel less alone.
I go to Ukraine because I am a historian and I have work to do there. But I also go to visit the front and my friends and to find out what is needed and what we can do. Today I am hoping that you will help me with a new campaign with a very special focus. It involves a pressing need at the front. Drones can be jammed and lives can be saved, but people need the right equipment —
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