Collecting funds for a drone workshop. A soldier launched merch to support his battalion

Since childhood this young man was a football fan and attended all the important matches of his favorite team, waving a flag. For more than three years now he has been cheering on the front for Ukraine — but with a weapon in his hands.

He is a soldier with the call-sign “Tayets.” This year he launched his own merch line to equip a drone workshop so that defenders at the front don’t waste time repairing FPV drones and can get back to their duties immediately.

Football fans are an example of patriotism to me

I was born in the town of Shostka in the Sumy region. Since childhood I was passionate about sports and practiced Muay Thai. I have also been — and still am — a football fan. When I was 14 a friend invited me to the supporters’ sector, and I was immediately taken by the atmosphere. I saw then that fans were patriots and principled people. When the war began in 2014, many of them voluntarily went to defend Ukraine. They became an example to me. That was where I felt part of something bigger.

After finishing school I moved to Kyiv to study coaching. It was here that the full-scale invasion began and I joined a volunteer battalion. I was 23 at the time. I have no parents and lived with my grandmother — at first I lied to her, saying I was only guarding gas stations and volunteering.

I first saw real war at Bakhmut

My combat path began in Irpin, and back then I thought I had already seen a lot in life — including the consequences of Russian aggressors’ abuses against civilians. When I went to the Izium area I felt similarly. We suffered many losses, but we repelled the enemy honorably. I told my grandmother I was training in Lviv, but the neighbors later found out that I had actually been at Bakhmut.

It was in Bakhmut that I saw what war really is. I won’t say there was no war in Irpin or Izium, but I arrived in Bakhmut in winter and that was my first winter at war — it was hard. Over the years I lost many friends and comrades. Now I serve in the unmanned systems battalion and am responsible for FPV operations.

A Russian loitering munition destroyed the first batch of shirts
Over time I thought about how to help my battalion with drone repairs. I saw others creating merch, so I decided to try too. First we made foam badges from my photo taken in Bakhmut. Then I decided to produce shirts with prints showing a fan’s life before and during the war.

Read also: Streetwear from your neighborhood: a soldier from Lviv created shirts with prints of his home district
I didn’t want to sell merch for my own profit; I wanted to use it for a shared cause. People donate to our drone workshop and we thank them with shirts.

A friend of mine who is a professional designer helped with the prints. I then sourced quality fabric, bought supplies and launched printing at a Kyiv factory.

I spent about UAH 60,000 on production and tailoring, but after some time a loitering munition struck that production facility and the entire batch of 102 shirts burned.

That same day shrapnel also damaged my car, which had been with me through Bakhmut and Lyman.

At first I almost gave up. I believed in the idea, but I had to repair the car. Later I decided to continue, because these shirts are also my contribution to helping the guys at the front. I invested another nearly UAH 90,000 and retrieved 147 shirts from the print shop. About 50 have already been ordered by customers to support our FPV workshop.

Each shirt costs UAH 1,500 and all proceeds go toward equipping the workshop. I will not deduct my personal expenses from the price.

Every shirt is a donation to the workshop

Right now we are still setting up the workshop and buying everything we need. In the workshop we want to improve every drone so that the guys don’t have to repair them on the positions when there is simply no time. We will hand over ready-to-use drones that can operate immediately.

Production does not stand still for either us or the enemy. We must constantly upgrade and repair drones because some are still configured for 2023, while the frontline situation keeps changing.

Read also: Why fiber-optic FPV drones are important for the front? An expert from the Sternenko Community Foundation explains
I would very much like to bring my comrades and all our people who died in this war back to life. It is painful that we are losing our best. I can’t bring back lost lives, but I can save others. I also very much want all our people held in Russian captivity to return.

I continue to fight because I have not done everything possible to stop the enemy.

It hurts me deeply when children suffer — they should not have to know war. But all adults must not forget it. War is extremely hard, and soldiers need to feel the support of the rear every day. Everyone must remember at what terrible cost a new day comes for us.

Shirts can be purchased and donations made to support the drone workshop via the provided link.