Connection 100%: charitable collaboration between RBTNK and NGO Plus Plus

29 March 2025

How it all began

In January 2025, Karina and Dasha from the Plus Plus NGO approached our team with a request to create a small batch of dog tags as gifts for their community. During our first conversation, I realized that we completely aligned in values — and RBTNK would do more than just a batch of dog tags. Together, we will create a new artifact and project around the important theme of connection, and it is the dog tag that will unite it all.

Thus, the idea began to crystallize — a project in which military personnel, volunteers, and civilians will share what connection means to them. After all, staying connected at the front is a complex system of actions and tasks. It requires knowledge, time, and equipment to maintain — and these things enable the execution of combat missions and connection with those who are eagerly waiting for news from us.

A bit of context

These photos were taken in the spring of 2022 – in it are 2 of my comrades with our first Starlink. At that time, Starlink was only available to our unit in the battalion, and other comrades would come to us after their shifts to communicate with their loved ones. Yes, it was dangerous — a group of people gathering in one place put everyone at risk. Moreover, we are medics who constantly work in evacuation. But we had no choice — it was important for me to share this opportunity and support the guys and their families.

Today, it is no longer so difficult to buy or obtain communication means for the military — we have made significant progress. But now new challenges have emerged — means that constantly disrupt communication. And there are those periodic statements from Trump or Musk about disconnecting Starlink. Ukraine and Europe have their own developments that will not leave the battlefield without basic communication infrastructure, but we still need these means — and reserves when they are lost or destroyed (which happens constantly).

And what did we do

Together with Plus Plus, we created a dog tag with a new superpower: Connection 100%. We also released a series of interviews where military personnel, volunteers, and civilians talk about the importance of physical and mental connection in war.

Our joint artifact is an invisible thread between loved ones, another way to be just a little closer. And 100% of the proceeds from the sale of dog tags will go towards purchasing communication equipment — radios, modems, and mobile devices, so our military can stay connected with each other and their families.