Hundreds of protesters angered by what they view as wasteful spending by municipal officials gathered outside Kyiv City Hall on Thursday and demanded that the money should go to Ukraine’s war against Russia instead of local projects.
Quick Read
- Protest Against Municipal Spending: Hundreds of protesters gathered outside Kyiv City Hall, expressing anger over what they perceive as wasteful spending by municipal officials.
- Focus on Military Funding: The protesters, organized by the Money for the AFU (Armed Forces of Ukraine) civic group, are advocating for redirecting funds to support Ukraine’s war efforts against Russia, rather than local projects.
- Concerns Over “Unnecessary” Spending: The group, formed in September, criticizes the Kyiv City Council for what they consider “unnecessary” and “poorly timed” spending.
- Demands of the Protesters: The protesters, mostly young adults, chanted slogans emphasizing the importance of prioritizing military spending over projects like rebuilding roads and beautifying parks.
- Rare Street Protests in Wartime: Street protests have been infrequent in Ukraine since the Russian invasion, but there’s been a recent uptick in demonstrations, particularly over municipal spending.
- Corruption Allegations and EU Membership: Municipal corruption in Kyiv has been a long-standing issue, and allegations of graft have surfaced as Ukraine receives substantial Western support for the war. This issue is also a concern in Ukraine’s ambition to join the European Union.
- Public Outrage Over Bomb Shelter Incident: A locked hospital bomb shelter incident in June, which resulted in three deaths, brought attention to the city’s bomb shelters and sparked criticism of Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko.
- Questionable Expenditures: An investigation revealed surprising expenditures in bomb shelter maintenance, including purchases of leather drums, an electric fryer stand, and vegetable cutters totaling substantial amounts.
- Response from Mayor Klitschko: During the protest, Mayor Klitschko announced an additional 600 million UAH ($16.2 million) for military needs, adding to the 7 billion UAH ($190 million) already allocated for 2023.
The protests in Kyiv highlight growing public concern over municipal spending priorities during a time of war, emphasizing a strong preference for allocating more resources to military and defense needs.
The Associated Press has the story:
Kyiv protesters demand more spending on Ukraine’s war, less on local projects
Newslooks- KYIV, Ukraine (AP)
Hundreds of protesters angered by what they view as wasteful spending by municipal officials gathered outside Kyiv City Hall on Thursday and demanded that the money should go to Ukraine’s war against Russia instead of local projects.
The Money for the AFU (Armed Forces of Ukraine) civic group, which organized the protest, was formed in September by people concerned by what they term “unnecessary” and “poorly timed” spending by the Kyiv City Council.
The protesters, who appeared to be mostly in their 20s and 30s, gathered despite multiple air alerts and cold, damp weather. They dispersed in the afternoon when air defense systems burst into action to fend off a missile attack.
Protestors chanted, “It’s better to buy drones than build a new park” and, “The more money we spend on the army, the faster Ukraine will win this war.”
“At a time when our friends, parents and acquaintances are dying at the front, we have more pressing matters than rebuilding roads and beautifying parks,” Kateryna Zaderey, one of the protesters, told The Associated Press.
Street protests in Ukraine were rare after Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, which brought regular bombardment of the capital. Recently, though, demonstrations have gathered momentum, and Thursday’s protest was the largest so far over municipal spending.
Municipal graft was regarded as a deep problem in Kyiv before the war. Corruption allegations have dogged Ukraine as it has received billions of dollars of Western support for its war effort. The issue has also been a hurdle for Ukraine’s ambition to join the European Union, which was holding a summit to discuss providing Ukraine with 50 billion euros ($54 billion) in budget assistance and the country’s prospects of EU membership.
In June, there was a wave of public outrage after three people died in a missile attack on Kyiv. They had been unable to enter a hospital bomb shelter that turned out to be locked.
The incident drew public attention to the state of the city’s bomb shelters and sparked criticism of Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko.
A subsequent investigation by Kyiv prosecutors found multiple violations in how 1.2 billion hryvnias ($32.5 million) from the city budget for the repair and maintenance of bomb shelters in 2022-2023 was actually spent.
Among the surprising ways money was spent on making bomb shelters comfortable were the purchases of 306 leather drums for “psychological relief of children during air raids,” which cost the city almost a million UAH ($27,000), a professional electric fryer stand for 720,000 UAH ($19,500), and 12 vegetable-cutters totaling 1.6 million UAH ($43,300).
Recent protests have focused on city maintenance and infrastructure projects worth millions of dollars that demonstrators said should have been spent on the Ukrainian military.
During Thursday’s protest, Klitschko told a city council meeting that Kyiv will spend an additional 600 million UAH ($16.2 million) on the needs of the military in addition to the 7 billion UAH ($190 million) that was already spent on the military’s needs in 2023.
