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Artillery shells carrying messages to the Russian army, Source: SignMyRocket

You can send a personal “greeting” to Russian forces on a Ukrainian artillery shell

You can send a personal “greeting” to Russian forces on a Ukrainian artillery shell

Reportedly, Finnish people have been the most enthusiastic European donors to this unusual crowdfunding initiative

SignMyRocket is the name of a Ukrainian non-profit which has been offering the chance for anyone to pay some money and have a message inscribed on an artillery shell that will be shot into the Russian positions. The money collected this way goes to equip the Ukrainian forces with materiel and clothes.

Anton Sokolenko, a representative of the NGO, told Yle news agency that the largest number of donations have come from people in the US, but in Europe, it was Finland that held the first place.

Have something to say to Russia this way?

It turns out that among the many enthusiastic donors in the Nordic country, there have been some politicians and public figures, as well. Such is Jussi Halla-aho (Finns), chair of Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee.

"The war only ends when so many Russian soldiers have been killed that it becomes politically or militarily impossible for the Russian rulers to continue the war. So killing Russian soldiers is a good thing, and Ukrainians should be helped to kill them," Halla-aho wrote, as quoted by Yle.

Other notable Finnish public figures to have used the SignMyRocket service included Martti J. Kari, a former colonel with the Finnish Defence Forces (FDF), as well as the writer Sofi Oksanen.

The announcements have led to much-heated debate, with newspaper columnists and social media commentators both praising and criticising Kari, Oksanen and others for their decision.

And if you’re wondering, what the asked donation for this “messaging service” is, it costs 200 dollars to have a message inscribed on the side of an artillery shell. Doing it on the side of a fighter jet is the most extravagant option and can set the donor back some 20,000 US dollars.

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