“Come Back Alive" delivers 150 FN Minimi machine guns to the Defense Forces
The “Come Back Alive” Foundation for Competent Assistance to the Army has delivered 150 FN Minimi machine guns of the latest Mk.3 modification in 7.62mm NATO caliber to the Ukrainian Defense Forces. The total cost of the weapons is UAH 94,753,575.
40 machine guns from this batch were delivered to the 82nd separate air assault brigade, which is currently participating in the offensive in Kursk region. Another 40 units were delivered to the 12th Brigade of the Azov National Guard. 30 machine guns reinforced the 126th separate brigade of the Territorial Defense Forces, which is operating in the Kherson direction. 14 FN Minimi were handed over to the “Magura” 47th separate mechanized brigade, 10 units to the 503rd Marine battalion. Another 11 machine guns were delivered to the soldiers of the 13th Brigade of the National Guard “Charter” and 5 to the soldiers of the 1st Separate Assault Battalion named after Dmytro Kotsyubaylo.
The Foundation purchased 40 FN Minimi machine guns thanks to a UAH 25,267,620 contribution from Ukrnafta, and another 30 units for UAH 18,950,715 from Ukrenergo. The rest of the weapons were purchased by the “Come Back Alive” for donations to the organization’s general accounts.
“Collective infantry weapons are one of the biggest requests of the Defense Forces to the Foundation. Therefore, the purchase of weapons remains one of the key areas of our work,” says Taras Chmut, Director of the “Come Back Alive”. “The new FN Minimi Mk.3 machine guns are perfect for assaults, short and medium range contact fighting, work in cities and forests. They are much lighter and smaller than Soviet PKMs. They are immediately ready to mount sights and use disposable machine gun strips for the NATO 7.62mm cartridge, which is very practical and convenient.”
In addition, the 7.62mm FN Minimi can be quickly converted to the 5.56mm version by one infantryman in the field.
Weighing up to 9 kg, this handgun can fire up to 850 rounds per minute and can be aimed at up to 1000 meters.
As a reminder, Come Back Alive is the first charitable organization in Ukraine to receive permission to import military and dual-use goods. This happened in the spring of 2022. Since then, the Foundation has purchased a Bayraktar TB2 aircraft system, a hundred sniper rifles and more than 4,600 units of collective infantry weapons, including mortars, grenade launchers and machine guns.
