The Vinnytsia City Council recently decided to allocate UAH 30 million for the purchase of drones for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. However, from the very beginning, the right initiative was colored by the PR campaign of a specific political force - the Ukrainian Strategy of Groysman and its leader Volodymyr Groysman. Journalists of the local edition of the Political Arena of Vinnytsia region drew attention to the facts that confirm this, UNN writes.
On November 24, a session of the city council was held in Vinnytsia, where the mayor of Vinnytsia said that a little more than 30 million hryvnias were allocated from the city budget for the purchase of UAVs for special forces, 1.7 million hryvnias for the medical unit of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and 1.1 million hryvnias for the arrangement of two military units. These funds are allocated from the budget. This is confirmed on the official website of Vinnytsia City Council.
"We plan to purchase 35 unmanned aerial systems of Ukrainian production, which include 110 drones. At the front, these are consumables. But at the same time, these are the "eyes" of the Armed Forces that will scout the territory and help save the lives of soldiers. We will transfer the money from the Fund for Support of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which we created to help the military even more effectively," the official portal of the city council quoted Mayor Sergei Morgunov as saying.
The fund mentioned by Morgunov was established on August 10 to support the Armed Forces and the socio-economic development of Vinnytsia. The Fund will be formed from revenues: voluntary and charitable contributions from enterprises, organizations, individuals, as well as from investment agreements, agreements on payment of contributions when changing the intended use of land plots, etc.
However, as noted by the publication Political Arena of Vinnytsia, we are talking about the funds of the city council, i.e. Vinnytsia residents. But the initiative is right and the military needs help. So what is the question. PolitArena journalists point out that the initiative was not without PR. The mayor announced the plans to make this decision on his Facebook page and mentioned Volodymyr Groysman and the Interregional Humanitarian Coordination Center in his post.
Later, Morgunov reported that the decision had been made. And again, he mentioned Groysman and the Staff.
Some time later, Volodymyr Groysman, head of the Ukrainian Strategy Groysman party, posted a message on social media, referring to the mayor of Vinnytsia. "We support the Armed Forces. Serhiy Morgunov: We are allocating another 30 million for 110 drones. To be continued," Groysman wrote.
The journalists of the publication wonder where the money came from. But they are convinced that the funds were allocated from the city budget. In fairness, it is possible that Groysman could have contributed to the allocated amount with his own contribution. However, there is no information about this. This fact may indicate that Groysman is probably preparing to receive electoral bonuses from Vinnytsia residents, apparently at their own expense, by contributing to the transfer of drones to the military.
To recap
UNN has already written that the former Prime Minister and his associates in the Ukrainian Strategy of Groysman party use the said headquarters exclusively for their own PR.
In particular, in October, a scandal erupted when Groysman loudly publicized the transfer of five off-road vehicle-catchers and more than 200 drones to the Armed Forces. And it quickly became clear that the SUVs and drones were purchased by the city council for budgetary funds.
At the same time, the Vinnytsia City Council sees nothing wrong with an outside politician taking credit for helping the Ukrainian armed forces at the expense of ordinary Vinnytsia residents.