Opinion: Ukraine's new weapon against Russia? Lego

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From the United States to Germany to Poland to Ukraine, creators have donated their time and talent to support United24, Ukraine’s official fundraising platform, by recreating Ukrainian landmarks as unique Lego sets. These sets are not available for purchase; they can only be won through a raffle by donating $24 or more to United24, with contributions going toward rebuilding destroyed structures and other relief efforts as part of the country’s ongoing defensive war against Russia.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky created United24 as a personal initiative to attract more international aid through mass fundraising projects such as football matches, art exhibitions, music videos, celebrity ambassadors and even a Minecraft donation center, featuring a virtual recreation of Ukraine's Soledar salt mines.

According to United24 coordinator Yaroslava Gres, the name United24 comes from the initiative's goal “to provide 24/7 assistance… in support of Ukraine” — but the number 24 has an even deeper connotation for Ukrainians. August 24 is Ukraine's Independence Day, and Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

Gres told me that United24 has raised more than $650 million since its launch in May 2022, with donors from 110 countries helping to rebuild five hospitals, 18 residential buildings, 24 bridges and purchase 240 ambulances and 659 hospital generators. Donations also helped finance defense systems against suicide drones and tens of thousands of Ukrainian drones, as well as developing combat robots.

Amid concerns about endemic corruption in the Ukrainian government, including a recent arms procurement scandal, United24's fundraising is handled by international accounting firm Deloitte, which volunteers its services.

Last month, the United States sent Ukraine $275 million in military assistance as part of a $6 billion long-term military aid package announced in late April. So far, the United States has sent a total of $175 billion to Ukraine. But according to a report from the Council on Foreign Relations, humanitarian aid represents only $2.9 billion of that sum. The World Bank recently estimated that between February 2022 and December 2023, the total damage to Ukraine's infrastructure and economy was $152 billion.

Gres told me that 391 schools were destroyed and 3,282 damaged, requiring nearly $14 billion to rebuild, with another $14 billion needed to rebuild and repair medical facilities.

As the war between Russia and Ukraine approaches its 30^th In August, the world's attention largely shifted to the Middle East and the upcoming US elections. United24 hopes to keep the focus on Ukraine's fight for survival, a fight that is not going well: in recent months, Russia has captured and retaken strategic locations, representing its fastest advance since the start of the war.

Lego is arguably the best toy ever invented, but a toy remains an odd choice for a war fundraising campaign. And yet it helped support Ukraine from the start. In March 2022, a month after the start of the war, and again in September 2022, the Lego Foundation donated approximately $30 million to help rebuild schools and other educational institutions in Ukraine , as well as providing educational assistance to Ukrainian refugees in other countries.

In March 2022, Chicago-based toymaker Citizen Brick raised more than $145,000 for Ukraine through a custom Lego-based Zelensky minifigure.

The inspiration for a Lego campaign came from these initiatives and from Lego Architecture, a range of sets aimed at adults that recreate iconic landmarks. According to Gres, “If it includes the… Eiffel Tower, London Bridge and the Statue of Liberty… why can’t it have the Kiev Fatherland Monument?”

United24's first wave of sets, released in November 2023, are titled #LEGOWITHUKRAINE, which includes kyiv's Mother Ukraine, Crimean Swallow's Nest, and Mariupol's Old Water Tower. The second wave, #UKRAINEinLEGObricks, launched last month, includes Kyiv's Golden Gate, Crimea's Khan Palace, Lviv Oblast's Pidhirtsi Castle, Odessa National Academic Opera and Mykolaiv Astronomical Observatory .

All models are made from authentic Lego bricks, although the Lego company is not affiliated with the project or the artists building the sets. Each of the five second wave models comes in three sets, meaning backers have a chance to win one of 15 sets.

Donors can choose which of the raffles they want to participate in and, Gres explains, which of United24's five goals their donation supports – defense, humanitarian mine clearance, medical aid, reconstruction of Ukraine or education and science – although the profits from the second wave will be entirely devoted to the reconstruction of the Velykokostromska school, a nursery and primary school in Dnipropetrovsk oblast, which was bombed in October 2022.

Mark Segedie is an American Lego artist from Chicago and the creator of Pidhirtsi Castle. “It was a unique way to combine my passion for Lego with a very noble cause: helping to rebuild a destroyed school… Thanks to this project, 250 children in Ukraine will be able to return to their studies,” he told me .

It took him about 80 hours to design and build the set, once he chose the landmark he wanted to recreate, and five months to complete the project. “It was incredibly difficult to get the scale and angles of the castle correct,” he says. “It really challenged me. I feel like I was able to develop my Lego building skills while contributing to a great cause. »

Eric Law, another American Lego artist, created the Golden Gate set. He told me he first heard about the project on a Lego fan site called The Brothers Brick. and “we joined because when I saw the Golden Gate, I thought it would be an interesting building to build. … but after reading the story, I fell in love with the idea of ​​building it.

It took him a month to design it digitally, the first time on a computer, and then another week to build the set himself. “The shape is full of arches,” he told me, “and to get the shape right it took rebuilding six times.”

“I live in an area near Tacoma that has a large Ukrainian community. I also work with a lot of people,” Law continued. “When I got the model, I showed it to them and seeing the expression on their faces is truly a joy.”

Gres says that while she hopes there will be a third wave of Lego sets, “right now we're focused on the second release.”

The road ahead for Ukraine is difficult and uncertain, but it can rebuild itself with small bricks.