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Derry police body armor to support Ukraine



The pile of bulletproof vests in a variety of colors and conditions would normally be marked for destruction.To get more news about bullet proof zone, you can visit bulletproofboxs.com official website.

Instead, the 60 vests are ready for those fighting some 4,500 miles away in war-torn Ukraine.

Derry police officer Nikita Tomnyuk stands ready to collect more vests to send back to his native country of Ukraine to aid their underfunded military and militias.

“They don’t have the resources,” explained Tomnyuk.

While standard issue for American soldiers and law enforcement, the vests are scarce among Ukraine’s military.

After Russia, a global superpower, invaded Ukraine two months ago, martial law was declared by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Anyone who could or wanted to fight for the country’s freedom was asked to immediately step up.

Derry’s Police Chief Edward Garone first suggested collecting the vests for Ukraine. He turned to Tomnyuk, who came to the United States with his mother and sister 17 years ago, to coordinate the effort.

Tomnyuk, 23, who regularly speaks to his grandparents and other relatives in Ukraine, wants the community to be aware of the department’s project and “to bring more awareness to the conflict,” he said.

His relatives live in Chernivtsi, in the western part of Ukraine. They have told him about air raid sirens and taking refuge in their basements.

He was just 7 years old when he came to the United States and settled in Tamworth, New Hampshire, with his mother, sister and stepfather.

“It was a really hard decision for my mother,” he explained. But America “is the land of opportunity.”

“She thought our best chance of success was to come here,” he said. “Even to this day, all the family we speak with, we would love to get them here.”
Tomnyuk spoke at a recently Derry Town Council meeting about the vest collection. He also wants to alert other police departments and law enforcement agencies about the effort.

Whatever vests are collected will be sent Ukraine through the California National Guard, which is responsible for delivering items to Eastern Europe, Tomnyuk said.