Fundraising campaigns are organized on Discord, Signal and Telegram, but not on X, the platform on which the NAFO movement has thrived for years.
“People are being forced away from X, simply because Russia basically bought the platform,” the UK-based guy tells WIRED, citing the prevalence of Russian bots and pro-Kremlin accounts allowed on the platform under the Musk address. X did not respond to a request for comment.
One of NAFO’s most successful and prolific fundraisers has been Ragnar Sass, who heads NAFO’s 69th Tracking Brigade, which has raised more than $10 million to date for Ukrainian troops. That money has allowed Sass and his brigade to send more than 460 vehicles to Ukrainian troops, as well as more than 1,000 drones and other equipment to soldiers on the ground. They have even rescued 32 Ukrainian pets.
Sass’ brigade not only supplies the trucks, but also equips them with custom technology designed specifically for combat, such as jammers and night vision cameras. The trucks and jeeps are then painted, including NAFO livery, and driven in convoys to the front lines in Ukraine.
“What makes us different is that we analyze every week what the most effective electronic warfare solutions are,” Sass tells WIRED as he coordinates his brigade’s 33rd convoy to the Ukrainian front.
Sass is an Estonian entrepreneur and co-founder of cloud-based software company Pipedrive, valued at over $1 billion in 2020. He has been operating in Ukraine for over a decade and in 2019 launched a startup incubator in kyiv called Lift99.
When war broke out in early 2022, Sass donated $20,000 to the Ukrainian military. “A lot of people followed us, and at the end of the day we raised $200,000,” Sass says. By March 2022, Sass had organized its first 14-car convoy and in June of that year it joined NAFO.
Sass’ operation incentivizes donations by offering a patch to anyone who donates more than 100 euros ($110), and says to date they have sent more than 10,000 patches to donors in more than 50 countries.
NAFO’s fundraising is necessary, Sass says, because of the glacial pace at which organizations like NATO operate in response to war situations.
“We are the fastest and most efficient,” says Sass. “We can raise funds and provide help in a matter of days. As we did with Kursk: we started a campaign on Thursday afternoon. Cars and drones were delivered to units in Kursk last week. This war will be won by drones and NATO acquisitions are from the stone age.”
