Today, the majority of Ukrainians face stabilization and emergency power outages. But there are also those for whom there is no electricity around the clock. These people do not spend the night in cozy and warm homes. They are military personnel who risk their lives every day for our safety. But, above all, they are also people and citizens of our country who need to satisfy at least elementary needs, such as, for example, to keep warm or call relatives. The best solution at first thought is a power bank. But these chargers also need power.

Resourceful Ukrainians have already found a way to help our defenders. The main thing is that everyone can join such a charity.

Where did it all start?

A few weeks after the start of the war, volunteers began to think how to equip military units with batteries and portable power banks. Radio engineers and programmers found a better solution. Yes, they noticed that most used batteries and accumulators can get a "second life". To do this, it is enough just to connect several wires together and complete the device with additional elements bought in a hardware store. And that’s it: the homemade power bank is ready!

Before the beginning of summer, a message began to spread on social networks: "Don't throw away used electronic cigarettes! Volunteers can use them to make charging stations for our military!". This topic gained considerable publicity and the network of "manufacturers" of power banks grew rapidly. The retailer "Rozetka" also joined the initiative, installing baskets for collecting e-cigarettes in its offline points.

How does it work?

Experts do not talk about the details of the production process. But in general, it looks like this: all received cigarettes are first sorted: by battery capacity, manufacturer, condition, etc. Those that are not suitable are sent for special recycling. All others are cleared and tested. Then they are assembled into blocks of four or five pieces, soldered and a protection module is installed.

The capacity of a power bank made of 20 cigarette batteries reaches approximately 20,000 mAh. This is enough to fully charge four modern smartphones.

You can help by donating your old battery, used "electrons" or batteries. Collections of all these things can be found on social networks or by direct request in the search engine. In addition, volunteers actively collect other devices. Maybe you have an old phone or TV that doesn't work - specialists will disassemble it and use the necessary parts in their homemade gadgets for fighters.

Of course, you can help by donating. The war is still going on, so any help is worthy.