School of Military Divers

What is the project about:

In the spring of 2014 Russian Federation occupied the Ukrainian Crimea. Along with the Ukrainian lands, the occupiers also grabbed our military facilities where military diving professionals were trained. Both facilities along with material resources and certain part of officer corps who had violated their oath, remained on the Crimea’s occupied territory. While Ukraine found itself with a limited number of qualified specialists, actually deprived of further possibility to train them properly.

We have 1300 kms of common sea border, an aggressor by side and an immediate threat of a momentary blockade of our maritime trade routes and sea ports. This would mean a near-fatal element of the economic war for our country. That is why we desperately need to have well-trained military divers, undersea saboteurs as well as other skilled submarine specialists in sufficient quantity.

In October 2019, in Odesa, a separate Diving School has been established on the basis of the Navy of Ukraine. The School is designed to prepare military divers and skilled submarine professionals. The divers will be trained for both the Navy and the Army: their specialties will vary from SpecOps officers to sappers, reconnaissance and sabotage groups, and even paratroopers as well as search and rescue professionals and law enforcement officers. In every field where staff divers are needed, these will be trained here.

It was truly kind of our old friends and partners to let us join in the project and support re-emergence of the Diving school at the national level. The School of Military Divers is a volunteer association of enthusiasts, military divers sharing the common idea of restoration of the submarine force of Ukraine. Previously, the participants of the volunteer initiative supported and trained only individual units and specialists, and now the School of Military Divers coaches are among the founders of the Navy Diving School: its mission is to train not only qualified individuals but also those able to share their practical experience and train their colleagues.

 What the money will go to

We need to consider this matter with due understanding though. As the Naval School has still being in its initial stage of development, not everything works perfectly in practice so far. Sometimes we face the situations when certain force-majeure emerges, be it the lack of necessary equipment, insurmountable odds or the circumstances that require non-standard solutions.

Sometimes it is necessary to buy certain equipment, the other day – to rent out a room or a pool for the recruits’ training. Right, as experience has shown many times, this also happens. Soon, we will need to take care of the boat which contributors provided for the needs of the Forces of Special Operations diving unit. Major part of the equipment necessary for its repair has been funded by volunteers at their own expense, while our task here will be to assist them with the associated current expenditures, for the boat to get deployed in patrolling as soon as possible. By the way, the amount to be accumulated for this purpose, is rather small and could be raised in one day. As our experience shows, we can easily cope with even harder tasks.

 To ensure the continuity of our military divers’ training process, not to let minor stuff like this prevent the strengthening of our Navy, to forge our common victory in this war together, and, finally, to secure our very existence as a state, we decided to reopen the School of Military Divers project and go on with fundraising within this initiative.

What we have already achieved

The project commonly run by People’s Project and the team of experienced instructors of the School of Military Divers, exists since 2016. Then, in the course of the first stage, we started to teach swimming (from the scratch) the servicemen of the Sea Guard of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine on the Sea of Azov; later, we bought and sent them equipment for more than a hundred thousand hryvnias. The results of this work exceeded our boldest expectations!

Last year we continued training, for the servicemen to be able to meet the standards of military diving that are rather high: the guys need to continuously improve their skills and refine their professional knowledge.

Within the second stage, we supported and equipped monitor teams carrying out operational patrols at sea and maintaining the naval infrastructure facilities in a fit and safe condition. Among the other activities, they learned to hold their breath, to work blind, to rescue people on the water and find explosives under the sea.

Apart from the two years of the School of Military Divers’ existence, we provided assistance to many diving units, namely to the 73rd Dozor-M Naval special operations center, the Center for De-mining, and other military units.

• We taught divers; bought new equipment and maintained their present diving gear; helped to organize a swimming competition and an aquathlon tournament.

•     The Naval Special Forces fighters today work in the equipment we bought them; the Sea Guard servicemen protecting the waters near Mariupol have been trained and equipped within our Project.

•     Last year, during the water obstacle course completion, the gear we sent to our military, helped the divers of the Center for De-mining to save three people and pull out two drowned APCs from underwater.

• One of the Project’s former students, a sea guard, took part in the arrest of the Russian Nord vessel.

•     Also, thanks to our consulting assistance, the Ukrainian Naval Forces for the first time over many years have managed to renew teaching of underwater welders which is a unique and highly demanding diving specification.

Within the third stage of the project, we spent a quarter of a million hryvnias for purchasing diving equipment and rent of a special pool in the city of Odesa. The team of instructors provided the cadets with free diving equipment, manuals and handbooks, literature, mine and explosives models and the rest of the materials necessary in the course of the teaching process.

The divers got trained both in the pool and on the open waters. During the course we trained their swimming and underwater wrestling skills; exercised some special techniques developed by the US Navy SEALS, as well as mastered their handling the closed cycle apparatuses and underwater scooters.

Within the fourth stage, we have equipped the Airborne Rescue Group (ARG) of the 10th Naval Aviation Brigade. The Airborne Rescue Group’s key responsibilities include rescuing the crews of the aircraft and helicopters damaged in action; convoying the ships of the Ukrainian Navy during military exercises, providing parachuting services for the Marines and many other things. The group also gets often engaged in nation-wide search and rescue activities on the sea. Under any weather conditions, day or night, immediately after the flight clearance command, the servicemen of the ARG are ready to evacuate an injured sailor from a commercial vessel or rescue fishermen who got in trouble at stormy sea. Despite the fact we raised less funds than it had been previously planned, our colleagues volunteers, individual sponsors and old Navy friends helped us satishy essential needs on the project.

Today, we continue to not only meet current demands but implement our long-term commitments. So, dear friends, come join in: do we need to explain this project’s vital necessity for Ukraine’s survival as a state? 

• 17:0519August2019

  Project budget increased by UAH 4 128. The money saved due to a discount from the seller on dry-type wetsuits.

• 16:2020March2019

  Project budget increased by UAH 109 864. The fourth stage of the project has commenced. This time, we need your help to raise funds to purchase equipment for the rescue parachute-landing group of 10th naval aviation brigade.

• 17:2225May2018

  Project budget reduced by UAH 5 249 at the expense of the reduction of the cost of the pool rental for training.

• 18:2022May2018

  Project budget increased by UAH 34 080. Six wetsuits Cressi sub Fisterra for swimmers of 73rd Marine special operations center added to the budget.

• 15:3303May2018

  Project budget increased by UAH 26 790. We are launching the third stage of the project that is created to help military divers, to train them and supply with necessary diving equipment.

16:4704July2017

Project budget reduced by UAH 4 267. The list of needs updated in accordance with current needs of the unit.

17:3520April2017

Project budget reduced by UAH 3 240. We managed to purchase low-pressure hoses at a lower price.

17:2510April2017

Project budget increased by UAH 59 874. The second stage of diving training is about to launch. This amount is necessary to rent the pool and pay for equipment maintenance.

19:0020June2016

Project budget reduced by UAH 119 273. The budget has been revised considering items essential for the start of the project.

Stage 3

Scubapro Zoom diving mask

paid 100%

12/12 un.

6 792 UAH

Marseillas elastic belt

paid 100%

12/12 un.

3 168 UAH

Rental of the swimming pool of Odesa Marine Academy

paid 100%

1/1 un.

9 000 UAH

for training

Wetsuits

paid 100%

3/3 un.

59 904 UAH

Stage 2

High pressure adapter

paid 100%

6/6 un.

2 358 UAH

Medium pressure hose Poseidon, 16 mm

paid 100%

5/5 un.

2 025 UAH

High pressure adapter

paid 100%

6/6 un.

4 272 UAH

Low pressure adapter

paid 100%

6/6 un.

4 950 UAH

Gauge hose holder

paid 100%

6/6 un.

3 072 UAH

Bandage for fixing the regulator to the neck

paid 100%

6/6 un.

630 UAH

Module for compass FS-2

paid 100%

1/1 un.

875 UAH

Manometer SPG OMS-63 mm

paid 100%

1/1 un.

1 285 UAH

Rental of the swimming pool in Mariupol

paid 100%

328/328 Hours

16 400 UAH

Rental of the swimming pool in Kyiv for instrucots

paid 100%

2/2 Months

7 200 UAH

Stage 1

Wetsuit Sub Gear Base LX, 6,5 mm

paid 100%

4/4 un.

12 400 UAH

Best Divers, 5 mm neoprene diving gloves

paid 100%

6/6 un.

4 800 UAH

Bypass hose, 300 atm pressure gauge

paid 100%

1/1 un.

2 600 UAH

Seac Sub "Marseille" rubber dive belt

paid 100%

6/6 un.

2 400 UAH

Scubapro Jet Fin flippers XXL with spring fasteners

paid 100%

2/2 un.

5 550 UAH

1.5 kg lead lap dive belt

paid 100%

50/50 un.

5 000 UAH

Sub Gear Apnea snorkel

paid 100%

10/10 un.

2 000 UAH

Buoy signal / control OMS

paid 100%

2/2 un.

2 550 UAH

Sub Gear No Zip wet thermal boots

paid 100%

5/5 un.

2 740 UAH

Silicone for gaskets

paid 100%

1/1 un.

30 UAH

Metal (channel, sheet, pin) for the manufacture of "Herringbone" simulator

paid 100%

2/2 un.

4 185 UAH

Steel balloon with 15 l valve, 230 atm

paid 100%

1/1 un.

5 900 UAH

Polypropylene rope, 200 m, 12 mm

paid 100%

1/1 un.

2 040 UAH

Wetsuit Sub Gear Definition short

paid 100%

6/6 un.

9 160 UAH

Sub Gear XP 10 decompressimeter

paid 100%

1/1 un.

4 200 UAH

Sub Gear SEAL hood

paid 100%

2/2 un.

710 UAH

Scubapro Jet Fin flippers XL with spring fasteners

paid 100%

4/4 un.

10 200 UAH

Scubapro Nova Light 720 underwater lantern

paid 100%

2/2 un.

4 200 UAH

Cressi Orca diving knife

paid 100%

1/1 un.

1 450 UAH

Cressi Giant diving knife

paid 100%

5/5 un.

7 250 UAH

Underwater notebook

paid 100%

2/2 un.

500 UAH

Scubapro Jet Sport full foot flippers

paid 100%

2/2 un.

1 840 UAH

Rental of the swimming pool in Mariupol

paid 100%

308/308 Hours

11 396 UAH

Acrylic whiteboard

paid 100%

1/1 un.

1 650 UAH

Sub Gear Steel Comp dive mask

paid 100%

10/10 un.

5 600 UAH

Neoprene glue

paid 100%

1/1 un.

100 UAH

Vinyl weight set, 4 kg - 10 pc, 10 kg - 2 pc

paid 100%

1/1 un.

2 256 UAH

Wetsuit Sub Gear Definition overall II, 7 mm

paid 100%

2/2 un.

8 520 UAH

Sub Gear Comfort Zip wet thermal boots

paid 100%

1/1 un.

480 UAH

Stage 4

Military Resuce Swimmer Dry-Suit

paid 100%

2/2 un.

79 200 UAH

Tactical swimming boots Altama

paid 0%

0/2 un.

7 936 UAH

Aqualung para swimmer west

paid 0%

0/2 un.

18 600 UAH

Totally:   349 373.00 UAH