The Russian invasion of Ukraine has brought light to the strength and resilience of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whose Lego-style figures created in his likeness have quickly sold out in the United States.
Citizen Brick, a toy company based out of Chicago, has created figures (pictured below) of the war-fatigued leader in his signature green getup to raise money for the victims of the ongoing war in Ukraine.
A total of $16,540 has been raised by the initiative and will go in its entirety to the charity group Direct Relief in its efforts to send medical supplies to those in need in Ukraine.
The miniature figurines of Zelenskyy sold for $100 each, and Citizen Brick also manufactured tiny Molotov cocktails that feature the blue and yellow colors of the Ukrainian flag, which sold for $5.
The sale was an online-exclusive and took place on March 5th – supplies vanished almost immediately.
“A huge thank you to everyone who donated to yesterday’s fundraiser for Ukraine,” said Citizen Brick in an Instagram post. “Through the sale of the President Zelenskyy minifigs (and Molotov cocktails, which got our last post pulled down. Go figure.) we [were] able to raise $16,540!!!” it read. The post continued: “As you may have noticed, the minifigs sold out almost immediately. We made as many as possible in a frantic 24 hrs, with the CB crew coming in on their day off to print. We know there were some folks who tried to get one and couldn’t. We hope they’ll consider making a direct donation to a relevant charity nonetheless.”
Direct Relief says it has sent more than $26 million in medical aid to Ukraine in the past six months, according to Plastics Today.
Ukraine asked Lego on its official Instagram page to “reserve some bricks for us, we will need them to rebuild our cities and villages.” Citizen Brick owner Joe Trupia reportedly told Motherboard that his workers were “scrambling to make another batch since this got picked up on the Ukrainian Instagram page.”
Lego itself has donated $16.5 million in relief efforts to Ukraine, according to Design Boom.