Extract from ABC News
Volunteers risk their own safety in helping Ukraine's war effort. (Telegram)
In short:
A network of volunteers across Europe are 3D printing drone parts for the Ukrainian military.
In spare rooms and backyard sheds, 3D printers run around the clock to produce the parts.
The equipment helps fill supply gaps when supplies through official channels dry up.
In an undisclosed garage in the Warsaw suburbs, Alex is running a round-the-clock operation in Poland's capital.
Day and night, seven days a week, he's got three 3D printers on the go.
Layer by layer, the machine, no larger a bar fridge, deposits liquid plastic onto a bed through a nozzle.
It's currently making a mechanical safety switch to prevent the payload of a drone from releasing prematurely. Once completed, it will be on its way to Ukraine for soldiers to strap on.
"It's simple, cheap. These switches cost like a few cents … and it helps to save the lives of our guys," Alex tells ABC News.
Living outside Ukraine when the war broke out, Alex and his fellow Ukrainians wanted to help but weren't sure how.
3D printers are working around the clock to help the Ukrainian military. (Telegram)
Then, the idea came to him when a friend in Ukraine asked him to post a 3D printer from Poland so he could make much-needed supplies for the frontline.
"I thought this guy is in the military, why should he pay his money for something that he needs for performing his duties," Alex said.
So, he set about raising the money needed to buy the printer.
Then he bought one for himself and now he's part of a volunteer network that stretches across Europe, filling the gaps for troops when supplies through official channels dry up.
In 2024, Alex used more than 500 kilograms of plastic, producing everything from mechanical safety switches and LED torches to antennas to help steer drones.
The printers, which quickly produce small parts en masse and can be adapted for new and improved designs, have proved vital for the war in Ukraine.
From spare rooms to the front line
Lyosha, who lives in Kyiv, is one of the men who set up the network two years ago.
He says volunteers buy their own printer and plastic and when the parts are made, they send them on to soldiers on the frontline.
"We operate with a website that's a restricted access site for both volunteers and the military," he told ABC News.
"The military need to verify … that they really are from the military to start getting the volunteering help. But basically … after military people verify … they get an access to the closed catalogue list of products.
"It's like an e-commerce website. Once they order something … then the order is sent to volunteers so they can manufacture it … and send it directly to the soldiers."
Volunteers throughout Europe are working to help stock Ukraine's military. (Telegram)
Last year, Lyosha's network of about 400 volunteers produced 100 tonnes of manufactured plastic items for Ukraine's military, including parts for ammunition and casings for bombs that are strapped to drones.
The plastic weapons casings are a lifesaver for soldiers. The lightweight technology allows the drones to fly further behind enemy lines before they strike their targets.
"Without volunteering … in Ukraine, the situation with the ammunition would be much, much worse and it would be grim just because the government could not support advancement of the drone ammunition improvements," Lyosha said.
"Everyone who volunteers is [a] civilian, so we don't have allowance to work with explosives or detonators.
"We basically print the shell and then it gets sent to military where they add explosives, shrapnel and detonators, make it like a bomb, a real bomb."
ABC News agreed to only publish first names for Alex and Lyosha because of personal safety concerns.
Volunteering across Europe to support Ukraine
It's impossible to know just how many people form these underground printing networks, which never disclose their locations because of the threat of Russian attack.
But Lyosha said he was aware of at least 30 volunteer groups — with some people running so-called printer farms — of 30 or more machines.
The network stretches far and wide, including all the way to the UK.
In many cases, the equipment is being printed in households across Europe. (Telegram)
Etienne Paresys joined a different network called Print Army two-and-a-half years ago from his London home. He has since printed more than 100 kilograms of products that he's sent to Ukraine's army.
"I had never printed anything before in 3D, so I just went there on the website trying to understand what I need to do," he said.
"I bought my first printer, which was not very good, it took me a few months to understand, I bought another one … it's just something I wanted to help the army."
Mr Paresys has a printing schedule that runs all day and all night.
"I set it going overnight, then I go to work — literally it's non-stop printing," he said.
"We print thousands of things and then we send them to the army for the job that needs to be done, usually that's part of drones, part of bombs.
The 3D printed equipment goes from being printed in households to being deployed on the frontlines. (Telegram)
Mr Paresys said when the war broke out, he wanted to do something to help, so when he found out about the 3D printing networks, he jumped onboard.
"I find it very sad. This war is just going on and on. People have forgot what is happening, that they are fighting on the frontline," he said.
"There is no focus, people have just forgotten about it, the army is still needed unfortunately, we are supporting the army mostly because I think it's literally the only way to make sure it doesn't get worse than it is right now."
3D printing emblematic of modern Ukraine
While it might come as a surprise that such a volunteer network could spring up on such an industrial scale practically overnight, it's not a shock to Nick Reynolds, a research fellow with the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI).
"This has been very understood since 2014, it's just the way Ukraine civil society works," he said.
"It's always been very heavy, grassroots, bottom up — both mobilisation and civil society engagement.
"This is emblematic of modern Ukrainian society."
The volunteer network has proved crucial for supporting Ukraine's war effort. (Telegram)
Mr Reynolds said while it was entrepreneurial of the Ukrainians, using 3D printers for weapons casings and drone parts had become commonplace across the military, civil society and private industry.
"They are being used extensively but it depends on the system and the material," he said.
"It allows for manufacture close to the need, so it eliminates some of the other supply chain requirements such as transport and storage."
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