Saving Sight in Ukraine with Ballistic Eye Protection

Bulletproof vests, helmets, and first aid kits are all essential equipment for military personnel these days, and all are well known among the general public. What people do not regularly associate with first responders, medics, and soldiers, however, is ballistic eye protection, yet it is just as important as military gear (if not more so).

Also known as military combat eye protection (MCEP), these glasses are made from a lightweight, impact-resistant thermoplastic designed to withstand explosive blasts, shrapnel, and other debris. While they cannot stop everything, they can help to save sight.

In Ukraine, where Russia’s full-scale invasion continues after more than four years, eye protection is crucial. Shelling, close-quarter combat, and first-person view (FPV) fibre-optic-guided drone warfare have all made this war particularly cruel to sight.

“Your entire future is impacted if you lose your vision,” said Brian True, the managing director at Eye Care for Ukraine. “If you lose your leg, you can get a prosthetic one and you can run in a road race, you can climb up a mountain, but if you go blind, you’re blind.”

Mr True’s organisation launched in 2021 and came into its own after the war began. Today, its first priority is still supplying corneal tissue through corneal banking—despite considerable legislative challenges—while providing valuable equipment such as glaucoma valves and artificial irises.

The project to supply MCEPs to first responders and medics came about as a result of the war. They are ‘required wearing’ for Ukraine’s soldiers, but supply is intermittent and disorganised, and the quality of the glasses can be poor.

“Some soldiers are provided eye protection, some are not. We’re currently providing in the low 1,000s of pairs of eye protection,” Mr True said.

“Soldiers are often forced to find and pay for the protection themselves. It’s expensive: for instance, I can buy glasses in the US for about $55 that would cost me $125 in Ukraine.”

Mr True’s foundation has joined forces with the US-based BBH Eye Foundation to provide NATO-grade antiballistic eyewear to many medical first responder organisations. A notable example is the Hospitalliers, a Ukrainian voluntary organisation of paramedics, many of whom volunteered to serve at the front. They are routinely, and illegally, targeted with drones as they evacuate wounded troops, making eye protection even more important, as these new weapons cause significant shrapnel damage.

“We provide what we can, and we also try to raise awareness about the importance of eye protection,” he said. “We urge everyone we meet to wear eye protection.”

Unfortunately, the need to drum this message home is considerable. Many first responders and soldiers prefer not to wear them, citing a variety of reasons, including a perception that they prevent peripheral vision, are annoying for people unaccustomed to wearing spectacles, and are ‘not cool’.

Overcoming this resistance to wearing MCEPs is challenging, but Mr True and his team are making considerable progress. Acceptance is up thanks to their education efforts as well as their practical demonstrations.

“We took three different types of lenses that we work with, placed them at 10 metres distance from us, and a soldier shot them with a high-powered gun using a fragmentation bullet. None of the lenses broke,” Mr True said.

“It was not exactly scientific, but it demonstrated that the lenses do work at protecting the eyes from damage and absorbing impact. For the minor inconvenience of wearing glasses, you could save your sight.”

Brian True is the managing director at Eye Care for Ukraine. Major support for providing ballistic eyewear is through a partnership with the BBH Eye Foundation, a US non-profit. briantrue@eyecareforukraine.org