Come Back Alive

The organization was founded in 2014 by Vitaliy Deynega, an IT specialist from Kyiv. Like some other volunteers against Russia, he started helping soldiers from buying bulletproof vests.[8] He wrote on them an inscription, which became the name of his group in Facebook, and, subsequently, the name of his charitable foundation.[9][10]

According to Deynega, the first batch of his help arrived to the battlefront 14 May 2014.[8] Shortly after this he concluded that the need in thermographic cameras and night vision devices is stronger than in the vests, and since that time his organization provides primarily the night optics.[8][9] Initially it concentrated efforts on 80th and 95th airmobile brigades,[11] but later began to work also with many other units.[12][13]

In the beginning, the group consisted of 3 members.[13] Till October 2015 their number grew to 16,[12] and till June 2016 ‒ to 45.[14] They are not only from Kyiv, but also from Lviv, Dnipro and Vinnytsia.[14] In the first 1.5 months the foundation collected almost 1.5 million hryvnias[15] (about 100,000 USD in that times), in the half a year ‒ 12.6 million,[16] in the first year ‒ 50 million,[8] in 1.5 years ‒ 70 million.[17] 06 May 2020 the organization reported about 164.21 million hryvnias (more than US$6 million).[18] This amount is accumulated from donations, mean size of which is 500-700 hryvnias (20-30 USD).[19][12][20]

In 2018 the Foundation has added media, veteran organization and a think tank to the list of its activities. Its analytical reports are officially ordered by the Ministry of Defence and its associates. The Fund has become a co-organizer of Invictus Games in Ukraine since 2019.[7]

Since May, 2020 the foundation has been headed by Oksana Koliada, former Minister of Temporarily Occupied Territories and IDPs.[21]

Binocular from Come Back Alive and Veterans of power engineering of Kyiv. Marking "Not for sale" is seen.

The organization declares principles of political indifference, open reporting about incomes and expenses, and priority of optimal distribution of the supply.[17][22] It helps primarily those military units which are engaged in the most intensive warfare.[23][12] According to the group's report from October 2015, it had helped to 66 units.[12] The equipment becomes property of the unit, and military officials provide the organization with corresponding documents.[20][11][24][13][25] Costly equipment is marked with inscriptions "Come Back Alive" and "Not for sale" in Ukrainian and English.[10][26] Since November 2014 the group marks every device also with ordinal number ‒ for more effective prevention of stealing and bigger transparency of the work.[27] In 2015-2016, the organization checked presence of supplied goods in the military units.[25][20]

Activities of the foundation include:

• Supply of night optics: the main sphere of activity.[6] As for June 2016, the organization provided 585 thermographic cameras and more than 250 night vision devices.[28] In addition, it supplies thermal vision sights and rangefinders.[29][19][26][10] According to the head of the foundation, it supplied majority (in some military units, all) of thermographic cameras present on the front in 2015-2016.[8][6][30][20] After first half a year of work, the organization reported about receiving messages of 135 soldiers that saved themselves due to its equipment.[16]
• Other military equipment: walkie-talkies, GPS navigation devices, sights, ballistic shields, unmanned aerial vehicles, radars for ships, electric generators, motor transport and spare pieces, repair of the transport and so on.[31][32][17][13][30][12] Till June 2016 more than 100 vehicles were bought or repaired.[28]
• Introduction of an electronic system of artillery data exchange and management of gunfire, which was designed by other civil volunteers.[33][34][6][30]
• Training of tankmen and introduction of software for calculating the settings of tank shooting, also designed by volunteers.[35][36][12]
• Training of sappers (in March 2016 the organization reported about more than 200 trained people). The developed learning course became a basis for a new program of training of sappers of airborne forces.[37][6][13][30]
• Supply of sniper training course, conducted in 2015 by the civil volunteer group Combat-UA jointly with Narodny Tyl, Phoenix Wings and some other volunteers.[38][39][40]
• Medical projects: equipment of hospitals in front-line area, field hospitals and ambulances, as well as medicines for individual medical kits.[5][41][12][22][23]
• Psychological help to the soldiers[6][13][20] and delivery of children's drawings on the front.[11][6]
• Start of a project of creating documentary films about the war in Donbass.[42][6][30]
• In February 2016, the head of Come Back Alive submitted to Ukrainian bodies of power a petition[43] about problems in the Ukrainian Navy. It was also signed by representatives of several other volunteer groups. This petition resulted in appointment of a new commander of the Naval forces.[44] Another informational campaign of the volunteers resulted in appointment of assistant of the commander of Special operations forces.[28]
• Veterans and military media that covers the news and events in the corresponding field. Independent materials about the life of Ukrainian veterans and Donbas, reports from the East and motivating stories.
• Veterans organization that provide support and assistance to the veteran communities. It helps former soldiers to adaptate themselves for the life after fighting.
• Think tank which has a team of analytics who provide analysis of the related fields for governmental institutions, including the Report on COVID-19 inside the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The foundation collects donations through various systems of non-cash payments and organizes additional fundraising events:

• In July 2014 in Lviv a special art project took place for collecting money on the needs of 80th and 95th airmobile brigades.[45][46]
• In 2014 and 2015, the group published large-sized calendars with portraits of soldiers which took part in the battles of Donetsk Airport. The gain was directed in the first case on repair of their vehicles, and in the second ‒ on thermographic cameras for their successors.[47][48][49][13]
• In January 2015, the foundation started to collaborate with the State Savings Bank of Ukraine, which provided it a technical support of collecting donations (in particular, through its system of non-cash transactions and payment terminals).[50]
• In March 2015, Come Back Alive and several other volunteer organizations started sale of T-shirts and shawls for collecting money on equipment for soldiers.[51]
• In April 2015, the foundation and Ukrposhta started sale of special postcards for the soldiers. It was purposed for buying a reanimation ambulance for the army.[52][53][54][55][56]
• In February 2016, Come Back Alive invited all the willing to send samples of SMS correspondence with the soldiers. The samples are planned to be included in a new book, and the gain will be directed on the help to the army.[57][58]

The organization receives donations not only from Ukraine, but also from other countries. In particular, several thermal imaging devices were bought with the help of Ukrainian diaspora in San Francisco.[59][60] The list of donations and purchases is published[61] in Internet. Maintenance of the organization itself is financed not from the main fund of donations, but from a targeted sponsor help.[4][13][22]

• An assessment of results of Ukrainian charitable projects published by Ukrainian Philanthropists Association in 2014,[62] 2015,[63] 2017,[64] 2018[65] and 2019[66] qualifies Come Back Alive as one of the most effective and transparent Ukrainian charitable and volunteer initiatives.

• The founder of the group Vitaliy Deynega was awarded with Order of Merit of 3rd grade (edict of the president of Ukraine from 23 August 2014)[67][68] and the Cross of Ivan Mazepa (edict of the president of Ukraine from 5 December 2019).[69]
• 15 January 2016, the foundation was awarded with non-state order "People's Hero of Ukraine", which is given by a commission of known servicemen and civil volunteers.[70][71]
• 13 May 2016, the Minister of Defence of Ukraine Stepan Poltorak awarded members of the organization Daria Bura, Vitaliy Deynega, Alina Zhuk, Artem Parkhomenko, Tetiana Romakh, Victoria Stokratiuk and Irina Turchak with medals "For Assistance to the Armed Forces of Ukraine".[72]
• Awards of various military units (including 3rd Separate Regiment of Special Forces etc.).[38]

• Civil volunteer movement helping Ukrainian forces in the war in Donbass

• Website of the foundation