Come Back Alive ( ) is a foundation that provides support to service members in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The foundation purchases arms and equipment to help equip Ukrainian servicemembers. It also provides additional training to soldiers in areas such as marksmanship, first aid, artillery, and drone operation. Between May 2014 and June 2022, the foundation raised over $100 million.
History
Founding and early activities (2014–2017) The foundation was established in May 2014 by Vitaliy Deynega, an IT-specialist from Kyiv. In 2015, the foundation was legally registered. Its first purchase was a shipment of bulletproof vests, which had the names of sponsors and the name of the organization written on them. During its first month of operation, the organization purchased thermographic cameras for use by the Ukrainian military, which required more advanced imaging.
On May 30, 2014, the foundation sent its first thermographic camera to the front. The 80th Airmobile Brigade and 95th Airmobile Brigade were the first to receive aid from Come Back Alive, followed by all other combat brigades at the front line. As of 2021, the foundation had provided aid to about 100 units of the AFU.
From the middle of May 2014, the foundation initiated public reporting. Besides the optical equipment, in 2014 the foundation provided the 40th Tactical Aviation Brigade with aviation GPS navigators, and in 2015 it provided radar equipment for the Horlivka transport ship and the Hetman Sahaidachny frigate, as well as a radar for the "Donbas border guard ship.
In June 2014, the foundation started training soldiers in demining, and in September it began offering training to artillerists and tank crews. In March 2017, a sniper training program was launched. In summer 2021, the foundation opened a drone operator instruction and training branch.
In 2016, the foundation began renting equipment to the military.
Institutional development (2018–2021) In 2018, the NGO Come Back Alive was registered. Its activity was aimed at researching Ukraine's security and defense sector and preparing recommendations concerning its reforming and development.
In August 2019, the foundation installed the first mobile observation complex at the front - the foundation's own product. The complex enables the soldiers to observe the front line 24/7 outside of shelter, detecting the movement and actions of the enemy's units and diversion intelligence groups.
In spring 2020, the founder and head of the foundation handed over the organization's management to Oksana Koliada, an ex-minister in issues related to veterans, but shortly afterward she left the position. In November 2021, "Come Back Alive" was headed by Taras Chmut, a veteran, former marine, volunteer, and co-founder of the "Ukraine Military Center".
From the three persons who in 2014 originated "Come Back Alive", the foundation has developed into an organization with 40 staff members and 100 volunteers.
Russian invasion of Ukraine
2022
From 2014 to early 2022, the foundation provided aid to combat brigades active in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions. After the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the foundation has expanded its scope to include all of Ukraine. As of March 2022, the foundation was providing aid for almost all combat brigades and detachments of the Armed Forces and Territorial Defense Forces of Ukraine. Between 2014 and February 23, 2022, the foundation had raised $3,192,571 for the army.
At the beginning of the invasion, the foundation defined several priority areas for equipment. This included thermographic and night optics, technical means of intelligence and information processing, transportation, sniper gear, individual protective gear, and communications equipment.
After February 24, due to requests from the soldiers and conditions on the front lines, the foundation began purchasing bulletproof vests. In previous years, the organization had purchased more than 100 bulletproof vests, and five months into the full-scale invasion over 20,000 bulletproof vests and sets of bulletproof armor plates with plate carriers were provided.
From February 24 to June 2022, the foundation purchased 3,460 thermal imagers and thermal sights. It also purchased more than 2,869 quadcopters and 139 unmanned aircraft systems for the Armed Forces. More than 20,000 communication devices and component parts and 1,220 tablets with the ARMOR program installed were provided.
Also, "Come Back Alive" provides new and improved automobiles for the army, in order to create mobile groups based on them. At present the army has received more than 250 automobiles.
After February 24, 2022, "Come Back Alive" has purchased 5290 demining kits, 381 metal detectors and 100 blast suits.
"Come Back Alive" is the first charity organization in Ukraine to obtain a license to purchase military and dual-use goods including lethal weapons. This license allows the foundation to purchase goods directly from manufacturers without intermediaries.
The foundation was the first non-governmental organization in Ukraine to purchase a Bayraktar TB2 unmanned aerial vehicle complex for a total cost of $16,502,450.
2024 As of April 2024, 118 people work at Come Back Alive. On May 10, 2024, the foundation celebrated its tenth anniversary.
2025 In November 2025, the "Come Back Alive" foundation announced the receipt of a grant totaling 19 billion hryvnias (approximately $450 million) for the needs of Ukraine's Defense Forces. According to the foundation's director, Taras Chmut, this represents the largest publicly known contribution to Ukraine's military needs. At the donor's request, the source of the funding was not disclosed; it is known only that the financing came from a European country. According to the foundation's press service, the funds were received as part of a foreign grant.
In 2025, the "Come Back Alive" foundation underwent an audit in accordance with the international standard ISO 9001:2015, Quality Management Systems. The CBA Initiatives Center, which has been working alongside the Foundation since 2018 to strengthen Ukraine’s resilience, was also certified.
2026 In June 2026, the "Come Back Alive" foundation announced the signing of a contract worth over 1.92 billion hryvnias (approximately US$42.7 million) for Ukraine's Defense Forces. The agreement was announced by the foundation's director, Taras Chmut, who published a photograph of the document indicating a contract value of 1,920,625,406 hryvnias.
According to the foundation, the contract provides for the procurement of Ukrainian-made unmanned aerial vehicles for the Defense Forces. Due to security considerations, information regarding the number and types of drones was not disclosed. The foundation stated that the agreement was expected to be implemented by the end of 2026. At the time of its announcement, the contract represented the largest publicly disclosed procurement agreement concluded by the organization.
Reactions in Russia In 2022, the FSB issued a warning to several Russian citizens for making donations to the "Come Back Alive" foundation, and in 2024, for similar actions, it detained a resident of the Novgorod region in a case of high treason. In the spring of the same year, the foundation was declared an "undesirable organization" in Russia.
Fundraising Raising funds takes place separately from the involvement of charitable donations for the operational activities of the foundation.
The funds collected for the army and the expenditures for the needs of the AFU are made public on the organization's website. The foundation collects funds via different systems of money transfer. One can support the AFU through PrivatBank and Oschadbank accounts, SWIFT payments, and crypto wallets.
Activities Donating and renting equipment The military department works directly with the soldiers: military logisticians and instructors communicate with unit commanders and make a list of needs. After evaluating provision requests, "Come Back Alive" buys and sends the necessary equipment to the front. The foundation gives the soldiers optical devices for thermal imaging, night and daytime optical devices (periscopes, binoculars, etc.), automobiles, sights and thermal sights, portable radio stations, GPS navigators, drones, demining kits, metal detectors, ship radar systems (for the "Hetman Sahaidachny", "Horlivka", "Donbas"), and power generators. Since 2019 the foundation has supplied mobile observation complexes.
To strengthen the army, the foundation has worked out a mobile observation complex, individual and group kits for demining, an ARMOR graphical estimation complex, an inclinometer, and an artillery weapon model.
Since 2016, the equipment has been handed out on a temporary basis, with all devices having an engraved serial number. Upon receiving equipment from the foundation, the military unit registers it. When the foundation receives a request from the soldiers, it checks its expediency, after which new equipment is purchased, or available equipment is distributed. Before the full-scale invasion of 2022, the foundation took the equipment back for technical maintenance services after a brigade's rotation, while the next brigade was given other equipment. Since February 24, 2022, the equipment given out by the foundation is put on the balance of the receiving unit.
Training The foundation has its own instructor programs, and it trains soldiers in five specialties:
1. Indirect firing Instructors teach soldiers how to use the ARMOR graphic evaluation complex, which is an electronic calculator that enables users to quickly define coordinates and approximate directions, and also calculate data for indirect firing using grenade launchers, mortars and tanks.
2. Mine safety This training program involves three stages, each of them including a theoretical part covering engineering, and practical application of the acquired knowledge in conditions close to actual combat. Soldiers are trained to find and neutralize explosives outside and inside of buildings. The foundation has also made individual and group kits for demining. These tools for urgent demining tasks help specialists to find and neutralize explosive traps and clean roads for combat groups.
3. Sniping Professionals teach high precision shooting, finding the enemy's potential firing positions, observation tactics, directing fire, and destruction of priority targets. As of December 2021, half of all Ukrainian snipers at the front line were trained by instructors of "Come Back Alive".
4. UAV operators Instructors teach combating enemy drones and using our drones, tactics of use, air reconnaissance, and directing fire, as well as analyzing and deciphering intelligence information.
5. Premedical aid In addition, since 2019 the foundation has had a training program for soldiers, "Management and leadership in a military detachment".
Defense research During its four years of work, the analytical department of "Come Back Alive" has conducted seven studies, including "Military communication of the AFU: the actual state and the problems", "Why do soldiers quit the army?" and "Territorial defense of Ukraine: history, present state, and the future". The department took part in reforming the system of Territorial Defense in fall 2020. The analysts suggested changes to various law projects existing in late 2020 and early 2021. In late 2021 and early 2022, the analytical department worked jointly with a representative of the command of the Territorial Defense Forces on writing and adopting legal normative acts, as well as on changes in the text of the law.
Rehabilitation of veterans and support of veterans' initiatives