Name: The Ukrainian volunteers building drones for the frontline | DW News
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Throughout the war, Ukraine has become a world leader in drone manufacturing.

It's estimated Ukraine produced over 2 million last year alone.

And their troops are getting a helping hand from volunteers.

In Brussels, our correspondent Terri Scholz visited a nonprofit on a mission to help Ukrainian soldiers defend themselves on the front lines.

Gathered in a makeshift workshop in Brussels, a cozy setting with snacks, a group of friends practices their weekend hobby.

But the location is kept secret because this, this is not your typical crafting party.

First we build a frame, then mortars, soldering, configuring, fly testing, and

They're making drones to send to Ukraine, assembling themselves under the name Wings for Europe, a nonprofit started two years ago by Ukraine supporters in Brussels.

It started from one person knowing how to build it.

And we shared with it together among friends and said it would be great to continue.

So now I sit to a person who came for the first day and I say, this is how you do it.

This is the logic behind and you'll know it next time immediately.

So you make it once and you can make hundreds.

Production is limited only by funding, which they're constantly seeking.

Many of these assembly volunteers are also contributing their own money.

So here's a pack with a frame, 10 inch frame.

We unpack it, we give it to the table out there.

Our time, our fingers, our tools, our premises, our electricity, it's all free of charge.

That's why we are producing them so cheap.

We are the ones who understand clearly that it's way cheaper to do things now, to give tools to Ukrainians now so that they can protect themselves and Europe than to fight another war deeper in Europe.

She left Ukraine just before Russia's full scale invasion.

Okay, so just learning this process, this first time.

Now living in Luxembourg, Bakun traveled to the workshop with other volunteers.

Actually, what I feel like Ukrainian person, is that Europe doesn't forget about us and that they still trying to help us.

Emotions echoed by a wounded war veteran visiting from Kyiv.

And it's very helpful for serve our, for save our troops because drone cost maybe 300 Euro and life of our soldier, it's priceless.

In the next room, other volunteers are creating nets by hand to camouflage soldiers on the battlefield.

Within a few hours, some of the new creations are ready to test.

It also often gets a name chosen by the person who donated the funds to build it.

we'll make a photo and send them and then put them in the boxes and off they go.

Transported mostly by partners who want to remain anonymous, but

sometimes hand delivered by people proud to be helping the mission, like these members of the European Parliament.

The drones won't last long once they get to the front line in Ukraine.

Their job is to ensure the survival of soldiers like this unit expressing its appreciation.

Great care is put into showing donors how important they are.

Artists are contributing their work, as are Ukrainian refugee children living in Europe.

They are doing this just to thank those who are giving the tools the Ukrainians need.

This report by our correspondent Terry Scholz joins me now.

Terry, who are these people, you know, spending their free time in ad hoc workshops somewhere in Brussels to help Ukraine.

They came from all walks of life, Nicole, and many different countries.

And they're very much united, as you heard from one volunteer there, by feeling that they needed to do something to help Ukraine more than their everyday jobs would offer.

And that's why they've gathered together, starting from just a handful of people in someone's garage who figured out they could build a drone, to really expanding and trying to fundraise.

And, you know, they get plenty of people offering to come and help them.

Now, I think that as you saw there, people are very much motivated by this effort and feel that, you know, you can't just stand by.

You really have to do whatever is within your means.

And they figured out this is within their means.

You mentioned in the report that they meet in undisclosed locations if they need to be worried about security.

They're not by any means broadcasting where they hold these assembly parties, but

they're not living in the shadows, Nicole.

In fact, I'd heard about this group by word of mouth for some time and then for whatever reason, I got targeted on social media with their fundraising campaigns and there was contact information there.

And we are the first international news organization invited into one of these assemblies party.

But what they are asking for is for money.

Right now they have enough people asking to come and help and they don't want to continually be training new people if they don't have money to buy parts.

So they have to wait until they can make a big order and get these pieces in.

But they've been contacted by people in other countries.

In fact, they told me that they plan on traveling to Germany to help set up a chapter there in January.

So what they really need is actually more funds.

They've been talking about their program, including just in the European Parliament a few days ago.

And they had members of the European Parliament, as you saw there in my piece, offering to take the drones in person to Ukraine.

But there can never be enough money for these fundraising, fundraising campaigns to help Ukraine.

How reliable are these drones assembled by volunteers?

Well, that's beyond my means to guess, Nicole, but they do test them.

And I mean, some of these people aren't technically gifted, but

some of them know what they're doing and they certainly have taught themselves.

So they do go through several different tests there and they're marked on the drone that they have been approved within this process.

So once they send them off, they are pretty confident that they're going to work.

A couple of weeks ago, Ukraine's president announced the country's industry would be capable of producing tens of thousands of drones each year.

Do they really need the relatively small number of drones produced by this group?

Ukraine can produce far more than it is at the moment.

It's under capacity now and just like this volunteer program needs more money.

But you know this, the group Wings for Europe is in contact with units on the front line.

You saw some of them there in my piece thanking Wings for Europe specifically.

And as they told me, a single drone can save some so many lives that every single one of them is considered a lifesaver, a game changer for those troops on the front line.

So they're very grateful for every single drone that makes it there to the front line.

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The Ukrainian volunteers building drones for the frontline | DW News

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