Four and a half years into the ruzzian full-scale invasion of Ukraine, both tactical and consumer goods are far more available in Ukraine than they were at the beginning. There are now high-quality local manufacturers of pretty much any kind of tactical clothing or gear that you will need here. However, be aware that (a) it can be difficult to figure out which brands make what you’re looking for if you don’t speak Ukrainian, and (b) stocks of pretty much everything tend to be limited here. Imported brands are available, but any import will cost you more here than it would in the United States. (I can’t speak to prices in Western Europe, as I don’t know anything about them.)
With that context, here is a list of the clothing that I would recommend you bring for volunteering in Ukraine, whether as a soldier or as a humanitarian worker. My recommendations are based on my own time here (almost four and a half years as of September 2026), as well as that of other long-term volunteers, all of them US military veterans like me.
☐ Clear ballistic glasses (in addition to the ballistic sunglasses that I’m sure I don’t have to tell you to bring). Z87+ is the civilian rating level for impact resistant eye protection. MIL-PRF-31013 is the military equivalent. Z87+ eyeware made for construction workers will work in many circumstances. Everyone knows to bring ballistic sunglasses, but clear glasses can be crucial in unlit buildings (there is highly unlikely to be electricity in buildings from which people need to be evacuated) and at night. (I was thrilled to have mine while trying to catch a very frightened cat who was hiding under a bathtub at the time. Little old lady would not evacuate without him…) Ballistic glasses of any kind are very expensive in Ukraine, and I recommend bringing a spare pair. Ophthalmological surgery materials are in short supply here–much wiser to just wear your fucking eye protection.
☐ Heavy gloves, tactical or otherwise. Hand injuries are actually the thing that I have treated the most here–avoid them if you can. No matter what your job is, you’re likely to be moving large amounts of humanitarian aid, and if you are doing hot extractions, there will be rubble everywhere. Tactical gloves of all models, from lightweight for drone pilots to heavy for outdoor winter mechanical work, are now available in Ukraine, but you may have trouble finding your size in stock.
☐ Tactical pants. You will want to carry some things on your person at all times, and for that you need a lot of pockets. In addition to lots of pockets, tactical pants have a number of other advantages–I will come back to some of them later in this post. The Ukrainian manufacturer M-TAC makes a tactical jean model with good construction and large cargo pockets.
☐ Definitely do bring obviously American t-shirts, a ballcap with an American flag or similar insignia, and whatever else you wear that marks you as obviously American. It is a big morale boost for the locals, and they will be very nice to you. (Note that many men wear a ballcap and a “tactical beard” here, so don’t rely on those alone to communicate to people that you are an American.) Along those lines: bring as many obviously American morale patches as you can afford. Ukrainian soldiers will give you some pretty cool patches on occasion, and you will want to have a patch to give them in return. Additional note: Don’t bring 100% cotton t-shirts. You will be hanging up your clothes to dry, and 100% cotton t-shirts take way too long to dry.
☐ Kneepads. Whether you’re fighting, doing hot extractions, or teaching TCCC, you’re going to spend a lot of time kneeling on the ground. If you need kneepads but don’t have them, you are going to be a very unhappy volunteer for as long as the experience lasts. Elbow pads might be less necessary–depends on what you’re doing. I recommend tactical pants (see above) in part because they have built-in kneepads. High-quality built-in kneepads (e.g. Crye Precision and Helikon-Tex) are now available for purchase in Ukraine, but like for all imports, you will pay a significantly higher price for them here than in the US.
☐ Shower shoes–not for showering, but to wear in your living quarters. Ukrainians tend to be maniacal about keeping floors clean, and they don’t wear outdoor shoes inside except in public places. I have even seen guys wearing shower shoes in military headquarters! One US military veteran doing hot extractions here with me commented that he had never seen more Crocs in his life than in Ukraine–this is why. Shower shoes can be bought in Ukraine, but not necessarily in the areas where there’s fighting (most stores are closed there).
☐ Hearing protection. Disposable ear plugs will probably suffice. You might not wear them in the field, but if you find yourself on a firing range without them, you’ll wish you’d found room for a couple pairs…
☐ A Camelbak. Bottles of water are currently easy to find except in the areas with the most active fighting, but they are hard to carry. If you decide on the water bottle option, buy a water bottle pouch with MOLLE attachments. (Two, actually!) Personally, I have never used my Camelbak because (a) I feel guilty having it when none of my Ukrainian buddies do, and (b) a lot of the time, there isn’t enough drinking water available to fill one anyway.
☐ Fireproof/fire-resistant tactical clothing is always a good idea. Shahed drones are almost always used against civilian targets, especially apartment buildings, and they now often carry incendiary charges in the hopes of setting fire to said buildings. That said, I don’t know how to buy fire-resistant tactical clothing without spending phenomenally large amounts of money, and I have exactly no fireproof clothing whatsoever… You may be able to find fireproof clothing meant for work in industrial environments at a much lower cost than fireproof tactical clothing.
☐ Merino wool clothing. See above regarding how long it takes for 100% cotton garments to dry here… You can wear good merino wool clothing for three days with stinking–including socks. At some point, you will almost certainly need to wear your clothes for three days. Merino wool–expensive, but very worth it.
☐ Heavy-duty belt. We might need to drag you to safety by it… One of the reasons that I recommend that you bring tactical pants is that they usually have belt loops that are wide and strong enough to support dragging a casualty to safety with tearing. This is where your heavy-duty belt comes in.
☐ Shirts that you can wear comfortably under body armor. That means a pullover shirt with a smooth front and no front pockets. Rationale: things on the front of your shirt can get pretty uncomfortable when your armor has been pressing on them for a few hours. This is probably obvious to you younger kids, but definitely not to us old guys who grew up wearing Vietnam-era jungle fatigues with those four big, baggy pockets on the front.
☐ Full kit–body armor, a helmet, etc. Be careful about export restrictions, e.g. for night vision goggles. Level IV body armor can be confiscated on the US side, if you are coming from America. The Polish Customs officials are absolute assholes–they even confiscated a buddy’s IFAK (tactical first aid kit). Locally made body armor is now widely available for purchase in Ukraine, but it tends to be very heavy, relative to lighter American makes.
☐ A battle belt is nice to have–who ever has enough space on their plate carrier to clip gloves, ballistic glasses, a Leatherman, a magazine pouch full of snacks and cigarettes…? A shooting belt with MOLLE attachments is not a great replacement. Shooting belts are good for shooting, but a battle belt is much better for long-term support of the weight of everything that some missions require. Shooting belts can also be very uncomfortable when sitting for a long time, and you are going to spend a LOT of time sitting in vehicles while driving across this very large country. Bring a shooting belt if you expect to be carrying a pistol, but know in advance that pistols are unusual in this war, and you are unlikely to be issued one. (On the other hand, pistol magazines are good for carrying flashlights, a Swiss Army knife, and the like.)
☐ Patches (again), especially ones related to your military career, if you had one. People love to know that Americans support Ukraine, and of course soldiers will want to trade them.
☐ Shemagh, if you normally wear one. I often give mine away as a present, and then I miss it until I can find another one… If you don’t know what a shemagh is: you don’t need to bring one.
☐ Poncho/poncho liner. The nice thing about bringing a poncho is, if you have one, you probably won’t need it.
A couple of additional points:
- Avoid bulky clothing whenever possible. Depending on what your job is, you might spend a lot of time getting in and out of vehicles, tight spaces, etc.
- Inform yourself about the typical weather during the period when you will be in-country, but don’t assume that you know where you’ll be. Life is unpredictable here, and many foreign volunteers find themselves in multiple regions of the country even during a relatively short stay, with multiple local climates.
The photo at the top of this post is of a t-shirt made for distribution to wounded soldiers.
My name is Kevin Bretonnel Cohen. I serve in the Territorial Defense Forces of Ukraine, and also am the director of the American non-governmental organization Ukrainian Humanitarian Resistance (501(c)3, EIN 99-4530777). Ukrainian Humanitarian Resistance specializes in supporting platoon-level combat medics, and is also involved in public health and in nursing education. If you would like to support our work in Ukraine, PayPal to kevin.cohen@gmail.com works fine, as does Zelle to 303-916-2417. If you use PayPal, please be sure to choose the Friends and Family option, so that your donation does not get deducted from my Social Security check. However you choose to help, please be sure to add a message with your contact information, so that I can thank you!
All views expressed in this post are my own.
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