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A group of men in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv is assisting the war effort against Russian invaders by making homemade anti-tank obstacles using internet tutorials.
“On the first day (of the invasion), my brother came to me and said, ‘Listen, we need anti-tank obstacles,'” Tarass Filipchak, a 30-something local with a long red beard who resembled a cross between a hipster and a lumberjack, explained.
He was building a house in Lviv, the largest city in western Ukraine when he discovered that some of the building materials could be used to make the “Czech hedgehog” anti-tank obstacles that were used in several countries during World War II.
Filipchak said he posted messages on Facebook and Instagram, and “friends, acquaintances, and even people we don’t know” came to bring them what they needed or lend a hand.
A dozen anti-tank structures, each weighing around 100 kilograms, are waiting to be picked up by Ukrainian soldiers in his alleyway.
They will then distribute them throughout Ukraine. Some have already been delivered to Kyiv and the central Poltava region.
Filipchak has not kept an exact count but believes his small gang has produced more than 60 “hedgehogs” since Russia’s February 24 attack on Ukraine.
The project now has a total of 20 people working on it, including 10 regulars.
“We had no idea we’d ever do something like this. We are humanists who believe in peace “He stated.
Filipchak has worked with metal before as a furniture maker, but nothing like this.
“We went on Wikipedia and looked at where they came from, who invented them, and we started doing the same,” he explained.
Metal bars are angled to form the structures. A vehicle that attempts to drive over it will almost certainly become stuck and possibly damaged.
A few men are busy welding the massive metal pieces together at the end of Filipchak’s driveway.
Another man is shaping smaller obstacles in the garage, which is cluttered with various objects, by welding together tiny pieces of metal.
“Look at that, 1914!” exclaims Vitali Bodnar, cigarette in hand, welding helmet raised. That is the year the metal obstacles they are recreating were manufactured.
“They’re from Austria,” he explained. Gyor, to be exact, is a town that is now a part of Hungary.
The computer programmer sees his work as a contribution to the war effort.
“We want to be a completely independent country or a member of the European Union. Nobody wants this country to become a part of Russia “Bodnar stated.
He claims that he cannot imagine his country being defeated by Russian forces.
