Report
Ukraine: in Odessa, civilians and industrialists mobilize to manufacture bulletproof vests
Audio 01:34
Yuri Nikitin and Yuri Nakonechnyi present a bulletproof vest produced in Odessa.
© RFI / Oriane Verdier
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
While the Ukrainian authorities are preparing for a long-term war, the volunteers mobilized since the start of the conflict, hand in hand with local industrialists deprived of port activity, have launched local production of bullet-proof vests.
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With our special correspondents in Odessa,
Aabla Jounaïdi and Oriane Verdier
In this five-storey building in the center of Odessa, which has become an anthill of volunteers mobilized for the war effort, equipping reservists for territorial defense is one of the volunteers' priorities.
“
At the start of
the war
,
the territorial defense was poorly equipped.
There might only be three vests for a thousand men.
The price of a vest in Europe is 600 euros.
Ukraine is not rich.
It is also up to us, the members of civil society, to help territorial defence
,” testifies Yuri Nikitin, a retired telecoms engineer.
"Very quickly, all the steel in Ukraine was sold"
Their best ally: an industrial fabric that has adapted to the times of war.
Yuri and his comrades claim to have produced a few thousand tactical vests in factories in Odessa.
But the logistical challenge is enormous to find the steel plates equipping the vests.
“
All the manufacturers ready to produce the vests started looking for steel in the country.
Very quickly, all the steel from Ukraine was sold.
That's why we turned to the international market.
We are prospecting in Poland and Slovenia
,” explains Yuri Nakonechnyi, a former executive at the port of Odessa.
Faced with the growing needs of the armed forces, the Ukrainian metallurgical giant Medinvest and its boss, the extremely wealthy Rinat Akhmetov, have just promised a donation of 900 tonnes of steel for the on-site manufacture of bullet-proof vests.
For their part, the authorities are
increasing their calls for increased military support
against the Russian invader.
► Also to listen: Ukraine: civilians who have become military volunteers prepare to defend Odessa
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