Ukraine is now accepting donations of dogecoin to support its fight to repel Russia’s invasion of the country – and the country’s vice prime minister is urging billionaire Elon Musk to participate in the fundraising effort. Ukraine Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov noted that dogecoin is now worth more than the Russian ruble, which has plummeted in value in response to crippling international sanctions. In his plea, Fedorov mentioned Musk and dogecoin co-creator Billy Markus by name. “We start to accept donations in meme coin. Now even meme can support our army and save lives from Russian invaders. $DOGE owners of the world, @elonmusk, @BillyM2k, let’s do it,” Fedorov tweeted alongside a link to Ukraine’s official dogecoin wallet. Dogecoin was trading at 13 cents per token as of Wednesday afternoon, according to data from Coinbase. By comparison, the ruble was worth less than one US cent as Russia’s economy reeled from the sanctions – including the disconnection of certain Russian banks from the SWIFT international payments system and penalties enacted against Russian President Vladimir Putin himself. @dogecoin exceeded Russian ruble in value. We start to accept donations in meme coin. Now even meme can support our army and save lives from Russian invaders. $DOGE owners of the world, @elonmusk, @BillyM2k, let’s do it. Official $DOGE wallet: DS76K9uJJzQjCFvAbpPGtFerp1qkJoeLwL— Mykhailo Fedorov (@FedorovMykhailo) March 2, 2022 Markus quickly responded to Fedorov’s request, revealing that he had donated some dogecoin. “Dogecoin folks aren’t usually rich and dogecoin itself is generally used for small transactions, but we are a caring and passionate bunch those who want to help will offer what they can,” Markus wrote. “I hope the country can heal and rebuild stronger after all of this.” Musk, a prominent dogecoin tout, has yet to respond to Federov’s tweet as of Wednesday afternoon. But the billionaire has played an active role in efforts to assist Ukraine, providing the country with access to SpaceX’s “Starlink” internet system in the event its own networks were compromised during the invasion. In January, Musk’s firm Tesla began accepting dogecoin as payment for some products on its website. Russia has escalated its attacks in recent days after making limited progress in its drive to capture Ukraine’s capital city of Kyiv and other objectives. The Russian military’s offensive has included heavy shelling in civilian population centers, such as the Freedom Square in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city. Ukraine previously requested donations of leading cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and Ethereum to assist its resistance efforts. On Tuesday, the Ukrainian government’s official Twitter account said the country was “grateful for the support and donations from the global crypto community as we protect our freedom.”
