Just asking for a friend

whether being "a good shot" means they're prepared to kill another person when the time comes, and whether they have the support after it's all over to live with what they might do.

someone here might have some real-life experience??

https://kyivindependent.com/national/want-to-help-ukraines-military-as-a-foreigner-heres-what-you-can-do/

it's exactly the type of info my friend needs.

That's a long way to go to get shot at.

they are signing up volunteers and will give him documents that allow him to join the civil defense.

but... no combat experience... it's one thing to shoot at targets... it's quite another if the targets shoot back (not that I have ever been in that situation). I would think twice about going.

Big difference I know but more than Sat at the range type stuff. My friend is not naive about the psychological implications of taking a human life and in fact that causes him more angst than the peril.

donate his 5K to any humanitarian relief he sees fit and be settled with the fact that there isn't anything else realistic that he can do.
If your "friend" heads over there to shoot at Russians, there's a good chance he's not coming back.
Maybe not a popular thing to say here, but that's going to be the final outcome if this thing isn't settled soon through diplomacy or concessions.

triple check

I suggest a physical.

and ask a physical therapist on how to avoid muscle issues. i have a torn or inflammation muscle which still bugs me after 14 years.

Socks.

Foot pads.

plastic bags, including a few zip locs

20 feet of thin rope (laundry drying).

a roll of good fishing line. washers to make ends for fishing line.

vitamins: magnesium, zinc, D, C

a knife, a scissors

leather jacket

hooded sweatshirt

a large yellow handkerchief

dictionary

extra battery source

you may need to buy a new phone battery charger or 2

map

binoculars

get a crash course on infantry tactics from National Guards

crash course on first aid

ear plugs

double check everything here with the Guard officer

some gestures are a bit different in some countries. example in egypt, the gesture for finished as i am shopping or getting my booster shot

vaccines

dusseldorf airport is common for transfers. like a bowl of spaghetti. not too logical

laminated copy of passports, email, du password, phone numbers

copy of vaccines including corona

pcr test probably

rain, snow , cold

patience

already owns virtually everything in that list. Obviously it would cost money to fly it to Europe

make sure to read my previous post

i am mainly brainstorming. i don’t have too much useful experience

if you go, better than me.

but they are good thoughts from a good place. My friend thanks you

They have people helping and provide a lot of information to others. Here is also a recent article about how to go about it:

https://kyivindependent.com/national/to-combat-russia-ukraine-invites-foreign-fighters-heres-how-to-apply/

for their comrades. Lives can be put in danger by both ill-formed decisions on the field and the need for others to attempt unforeseen rescues.

That said, every hand is welcome in an ass kicking competition, and wiser heads on the field can always find useful positions for all. Good luck, friend.

If not, communicating with Ukrainians will probably be a huge issue.

So yeah, sending that money to some other organization would be a better choice.

but a fast learner

If he arrives not knowing word one of Ukrainian, he will be very handicapped. Plus, of course, their alphabet is a Cyrillic one, not the Roman alphabet we use here.

"pimslure course"? I'm guessing some sort of online language thing, and if he can take six weeks and actually becomes semi-fluent, that would be good. But honestly, a 53 year old is simply not going to learn a brand new language easily, or well. Trust me, I've been there at that age.

programs. However it wouldn't teach one to read or write the target language.

First would be easier to learn, but where is Ukraine going to be in 6 weeks? Decisions, decisions....

of course. But immersion is the best language learning tool so I'm guessing six weeks in Ukraine will be much more instructive

Someone is not being realistic here.

Keeping him?

Please elaborate.

To every possible scenario mentioned, you already have a solution to all the suggestions... Why do I need to elaborate? You even have a crash course in Ukrainian planned.

sorry

Whether used or not, it inject $5k into Ukraine directly without siphoning off money to airlines, intermediate hotels, Polish taxi drivers, etc.