Called a Florida cancer maker KelTec Has sent 400 semi-automatic rifles to Ukraine to help civilians fend off Moscow-led aggression after many years of customer orders and disappearances.
Adrian Kergren, the developer and manufacturer of family-owned firearms, said: Associated Press According to a March 18 report, after an order from a Ukrainian customer living in Odessa, he remains holding a $ 200,000 shipment of semi-automatic rifles.
Odessa, a strategically important port city in southern Ukraine with a population of nearly one million, has recently been highly fortified in preparation for a potential Russian attack.
Since the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, Kergren said he has been unable to contact customers.
Instead of wasting a left-behind batch of 9 mm foldable rifles, Kel-Tec, which employs about 300 American citizens, uses them to fend off attacks from Russian troops in the Ukrainian civil resistance movement. I will send it to.
“Americans want to do something,” former US Navy pilot Kelgren told AP. “We enjoy freedom. We value them. And it’s painful to see a group of people there being beaten like this.”
Kerglen contacted a diplomat at the Ukrainian embassy through a Ukrainian neighbor and said he was able to obtain a federal arms export license in just four days. This process can usually take several months due to the complex amount of red tape that accompanies international shipping. Weapons.
According to AP, the guns will be sent out for delivery to a private NATO-operated facility, from which the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense will be responsible for distributing the guns to the fighting resistance forces in the country.
The Epoch Times contacted the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense for comment.
Kergren’s decision to send a rifle to Ukraine was to use weapons to fend off a Russian attack after the country’s President Volodymyr Zelensky told Ukrainian citizens that no one between the ages of 16 and 60 could leave the country. I urged them to take it.
Zelensky also warns that Russia is preparing to bomb Odessa. He said this would be a “war crime … a historical crime”.
According to AP, Kelgren hopes to plan more shipments in the future. He said the KelTec license allows exports of up to 10,000 weapons, and the company is proposing to offer Ukrainians their own production line and weekly shipments.
Florida’s firearms makers aren’t the only ones trying to supply Ukraine with weapons as the conflict continues.
Another company in the same state, Adams Arms, announced earlier this month. video A batch of rifles that said on social media that “another Ukrainian cargo is preparing” [to] I will ship it. “
“Many brands throw rifles out of helicopters to demonstrate durability. Our rifles go to war,” the company said.
Colorado Governor Jared Polis said on March 14 statement The state’s Department of Public Safety and the Department of Military Veterans have collected over 1,000 bulletproof helmets and nearly 840 surplus bulletproof vests from more than 25 local law enforcement agencies, all of which have been sent to Ukraine.
“In the true spirit of Colorado, I am proud that Colorado law enforcement agencies have been strengthened to support the brave people of Ukraine. We are to support the fight for freedom in Ukraine. This extra bulletproof vest is urgently needed to save lives, thwart Putin’s ruthless attacks and save Ukraine, “says Police.
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden I swore Sending weapons, money, food and aid to Ukraine, with the United States vowing to “open its arms and welcome Ukrainian refugees.”
Biden approved last week $ 13.6 billion With emergency funding to help the Ukrainian people, who are divided into humanitarian and security aid.
follow
Katabella Roberts is a reporter currently based in Turkey. She focuses primarily on the United States and covers the news and business of The Epoch Times.