I'm back and impressed by what you all have done over the past few weeks. Robin's passionate writing will be sorely missed. Please note that next week's raffle will be delayed until Wednesday.

Before we begin, Arcaist wants to share a message with you all:

Arcaist here. This raffle comes with a special story: as some of you may already know, I’ve developed the habit of raising a glass of vodka for every contact of mine who suddenly stops texting me. For some, I later find out they became Cargo 200; others I never hear from again.

In this case, I was wrong. My contact from the 81st Brigade hadn’t replied for several months, so I raised a glass to him in early March.

Then, all of a sudden, I received a message from him again a few days ago. After making sure it was really him and not some orc who had managed to unlock his phone, it turned out his phone had actually broken during exfil, and he had no way to get back in touch with me (the soldier who originally connected us is… no longer around either).

After that, once I got past the initial shock and was just relieved he was alive, we got back to business. Urgent car repairs and a new Fossibot are his most pressing needs right now, along with a number of other items.

It then occurred to me that I still have a flag and a patch from him, which he sent me in return for some support we provided back in early 2025.

Well… here we go.

Updates

Robin here with a very quick update on something you might not even remember from the 15 April raffle.

You remember how I talked about the curse on all cars that enter Ukraine? As I was writing that, I got the messages that prompted me to leave this footnote:

*This is 100% true: right now I'm in a group chat with a guy delivering children's clothes and toys from Norway to Ukraine. It has nothing to do with UFL; just a little side project thing. As I was writing about the curse on cars entering Ukraine, he wrote to tell us that something exploded on the side of the road, causing their passenger airbag to go off and hurting his copilot. They're nowhere near the front. It is the curse.

It was the airbag itself that exploded. They found nothing on the road that would have triggered it, nothing in the vehicle, absolutely nothing explodey except the airbag itself. It just suddenly came over all dramatic and went "I'M OUT." Thankfully, everyone's okay--though the passenger did have a minor concussion and had to get checked at the local hospital just to be safe, and then they somehow put him in charge of booking the hotel room for the night, which resulted in two large men having to share one double bed because, again, they let the concussed guy book the room--and the delivery mission was successful.

Okay, back to Scott.

Remember that amazing raffle on 15 April? The 82nd sent a picture with the car you helped pay for! Personally, I love the handwriting; I can't even read my own.

The 125th received powerbanks and needful things, and seems to be pleased with them.

And lastly, the 117th received two Starlinks and a Fossibot powerstation. Thank you all!

$2 TACO Tuesday (Every. Freaking. Week.)

The florks return in this week's $2 pack as adorable stickers. They join a Snake Island shopper and a pillow cover (no filling included) made by Arcaist's mother. They are joined by a patch from our friends in the 95th, along with a "Death from above" drone patch.

$5 Pack

The $5 pack is a double-header from the 90th Battalion/81st Brigade and the 38th Marine Brigade. The 90th provided a signed flag and their unit patch, while the 38th gave us a water bottle to go with their patch.

For those of you with long memories, the 90th Battalion are known as Cyborgs for their heroic defense of the Donetsk airport in 2014.

In closing:

Over the past few weeks, I visited my friends in Ukraine and took a road trip with one of them through Western Europe. I had an amazing time, but it has created a conflict within me.

What gives me the right to enjoy a wonderful vacation while the Ukrainians continue to fight for their lives and land? Shouldn't I spend every spare dollar on supporting them?

After wrestling with it for months, I came to this conclusion: subordinating one's life to a singular cause is a recipe for disaster. A person cannot maintain their sanity and identity without balance. If any of you have suffered burnout (one of the reasons I had to retire), you understand the struggle.

But this trip made me actually internalize that concept. If I exist only to support Ukraine, I will crash. How will that help Ukraine? Look at the Ukrainian civilians themselves; they have days off, time with friends and family, and even vacations (holidays for you Europeans). Living, not just existing, is a form of defiance towards russia.

Having said that, the strength, resilience, and fortitude of the Ukrainian defenders cannot be imagined. They spend literal months on the front line, living under unholy threats in conditions that would make most of us snap. These legitimate heroes are the reason UFL exists, and without your support, UFL wouldn't matter.

Ukrainians won't be broken. We, all of us, do what we can to support them, even if that means taking time for ourselves.

Ukraine will survive, and you should be proud of your part in that survival.

-Scott

Don't forget:

Givebutter may limit ticket purchases to 10 at a time, but as many of you know, you can always buy additional ticket packs without limit.

UFL has amazing art here if you haven't seen it yet!

And please note that although the event description mentions a livestream, there will be none. And while we do deeply appreciate those of you who choose to donate as well as buying raffle tickets, we want to make it clear that donations are not required to enter the raffle.

28 April UFL raffle

The months keep marching past and you keep supporting our Ukrainian defenders