April 28, 2026

The Strange Rise and Fall of Russia’s Crowd Sourced Defense Industry

By: Samuel Bendett and Michael Kofman

This article was originally published in War on the Rocks.

In the early days of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, much that could go wrong did for the Russian military. As one volunteer organization called KatyaValya recalled:

"We called all our military friends in (Russian-held) Donetsk, but no one could really explain or say anything. Three or four days later, Katya’s husband (who served with Donetsk militia) disappeared from communications. We searched for him every day through the commandant’s office to make sure everything was alright. Then he finally got in touch: “'We need combat boots, sleeping bags, cigarettes, raincoats, and most importantly, Baofeng radios.'”

While some elements of Russian civil society protested the invasion, others mobilized to an unprecedented degree to assist the military. This effort eventually came to be known as the “People’s military-industrial complex” or simply “the People’s VPK.”

The overall impact of the People’s VPK on the war effort is likely larger, encompassing a host of innovation efforts.

The need for much of this assistance was linked to the Russian military’s lack of preparedness for the war. According to numerous accounts by Russian citizens who would eventually step into the role of volunteers and technology developers, Russian soldiers rapidly ran out of basic supplies and began reaching out to families and friends with requests for everything from cigarettes to shovels. These requests evolved into a national informal assistance effort, which revealed the deficits within Russian forces, the extent of dependence on Chinese products for the war effort, and the lesser-known story of how Russian society mobilized in support of the war.

Read the full article in War on the Rocks.

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