Ukraine's internet army of 'fellas' raise money to buy drone for hunting Russian ships

The Fellas, as they are known, are a rowdy band of online comrades with a nose for dog memes who are easily identified by their Shiba Inu profile pictures, are an army, but on the Internet. They comprise the NAFO (North Atlantic Fella Organisation) which has been waging an information war on social media against Russian propaganda, and raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for Ukraine's armies as they go. When Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelesnkyy United24 initiative asked if NAFO wanted to raise money to pay for a naval drone - and give it a name - they did not take much time to make sure that it happened. 

The challenge to the fellas is part of United24's quest to assemble a fleet of 100 sea drones, following what Ukraine says was a strike on Russia's Black Sea Fleet in October exclusively using unmanned vessels. It only took a few weeks for the fellas to raise the $250,000 (£205,000) needed for one such drone, which they have duly named Raccoon's Revenge.

"I don't like bullies, and it's pretty plainly evil what the Russians have been doing for a very long time," US Army veteran and current fella Pete told news outlet Sky News. "I appreciate what the Ukrainians are doing militarily - doing more with less - and this has just been a nice outlet to try and help alleviate that in whatever way we can."

Why a racoon?

As Russian forces prepared to retreat from the city of Kherson in the face of Ukrainian offensives last month, bizarre footage surfaced appearing to show animals being stolen from the local zoo, including a raccoon Since then, "The Raccoon of Kherson" has become something of a celebrity on Russian social media and has been used as a mascot by Russian paratroopers. Clearly the fellas believe that the raccoon has not forgotten its Ukrainian roots, and the moniker Raccoon's Revenge defeated names including HMS Bonquerer and Aqua Bonker 9000 in a recent poll of more than 11,000 people.

"Fellas" raise huge sums for Ukraine

Beyond the jokes and memes, the "fellas" have raised huge sums to buy ammunition and vehicles for the Ukrainian resistance. They've also helped keep the conflict under the global spotlight. NAFO has grown from one Twitter user poking fun at the Russian military to a global phenomenon of thousands that counts senior politicians like UK defence secretary Ben Wallace and Estonia Prime Minister Kaja Kallas among its ranks.

Much of the money raised by NAFO is donated to the Georgian Legion, a foreign volunteer unit that has been fighting in Ukraine since 2014. Estimates vary about how much money has been raised by NAFO, but some put it at more than £860,000. NAFO co-founder Matt Moores says the group "gives everyone globally with an interest and an internet connection a way to get involved". Speaking at a panel for the Centre for Strategic and International Studies earlier this month, he said NAFO is "overwhelmingly a positive movement".