City officials from Miami, Fla., Tuesday announced that the municipality is sending 167 guns to Irpin, Ukraine, described as its new sister city in a video posted to Twitter.
“Our goal is to do what we can as a city to help our new sister city,” said Miami Commissioner Ken Russell, who is also running as a Democrat for a U.S. Congress seat, in the video.
Last month, Miami set up a voluntary gun buyback program to help provide weapons to Ukraine, which has fought off a Russian invasion since late February. Participants in the program received a gift card starting at $50 for old, unused, or found weapons, “no questions asked,” said a city announcement. Those who brought firearms received $50 Visa gift cards, $100 cards went those who brought shotguns or rifles and $150 went to those who brought high-powered assault weapons such as AR-15s.
Chief of Police Manuel Morales, explained that the weapons were scheduled for destruction if they had not been donated to the initiative.
“People just don’t know what to do with them sometimes,” said Russell, who stressed that the program was voluntary.
“We’ve very happy to take what is available from anyone who didn’t want it in the house,” Russell said. He added that the city also plans to send defensive equipment such as helmets and bulletproof vests.
According to the United Nations, “the security situation in Ukraine deteriorated rapidly following the launch of a Russian Federation military offensive.” It estimates that 12 million people inside Ukraine will need relief and protection.
In Irpin – located near Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital – bodies of 290 civilian victims have been found, according to the BBC.
“Witnesses and prosecutors tell of a month of terror in a narrow zone in the town’s south-western quarter,” the outlet reported last month. “A disproportionate number of victims were women.”
“This is an unprecedented effort, and many people are skeptical that a city could be able to do this,” said Russell. “We have found a way and we are inviting other police departments across the country.”
From the start of the Russian invasion through July 9, the U.S. provided more than $7 billion in military aid to Ukraine, according to the U.S. State Department.
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