//To any members who may be in favour of keeping the button, know that this is a very preliminary step to actually implementing anything that gets discussed here, so don't fear that the button is about to be taken away. If you want it kept, please do say so in this thread.//

I think it may be right to remove the Ukrainian donation button from the sub. I have four main reasons for thinking this:

1) This sub is a meeting point of international Ethereum users. To take a side in a war, or even appear to, damages the credibility and appeal of this community in the eyes of those on the other side. I think it is fair and even desirable that every member of the sub who wants to take a side for themselves be allowed to do so, but the sub itself should remain neutral.

2) Funds donated here are not being used as advertised. The button's link currently directs to a post by u/dont_forget_canada which shares a tweet by Vitalik. The post and Vitalik's tweet both say "Proceeds go to civilian efforts helping Ukrainians suffering from the war." Vitalik's tweet is quoting a tweet of Ukraine DAO's, which states "100% proceeds go to support Ukrainians suffering for the war. " From reading this, you might think that if you donate you're going to be supporting suffering civilians. As a matter of fact, Ukraine DAO breaks down their donation history thus:

• 1550.5 ETH to Come Back Alive, an NGO which according to their Wikipedia article specializes in equipping (though not technically arming, which is an important distinction) Ukraine's soldiers with gear ranging from bulletproof vests to radar equipment to a $16,502,450 unmanned aerial combat vehicle. Not exactly helping defenseless civilians.
• 387.63 ETH to the Government of Ukraine's official Ethereum wallet. I did not find a statement from Ukraine DAO that explained how the government was to use the funds, which does not inspire confidence. At the best, we can expect that the funds were spent in proportion with the rest of the government's spending, which means likely majority on arms/munitions/combative equipment.
• 190.49 ETH to Outright International, an organization dedicated to LGBTIQ people. Their impact statement for Ukraine can be found here.
• 4.43 ETH to Psychology for Human Rights.

Thus of over 2,000 ETH donated, less than 200 ETH has verifiably gone to civilians! This may be a good place to point out that cryptodrfting was allocated 30,000 USDC for his/her efforts for the DAO.

3) The DAO appears to be inactive. Etherscan analytics suggest that the ETH balance hasn't gone down significantly, which would signal a donation being made, since midway through 2022. This isn't conclusive as there are other tokens which it could be moving, but it's cause for more inquiry at least.

4) The Ukraine DAO organization has made some statements that seem to be antithetical to a peaceful resolution. They have made statements, like this one, this one and this one, which appear to describe all Russians as evil. I personally cannot approve of such statements and think it's ridiculous to suppose that the entirety of the population of Russia is complicit in the present war and as a result of this simply "evil". I'm a little ashamed to be a part of a sub which supports such unfounded hatred of an entire nation of people.

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If you've read this far, you probably have some thoughts on the matter. What do you think, Ethtraders? Should we put this to a vote?