Jan. 18, 2025, 6:50 p.m.
(Photo: Odesa life)
This time, the participants of the "Money for the Armed Forces" campaign reminded Mayor Hennadiy Trukhanov of the cake he had made for his anniversary.
The fact is that the mayor was prepared a cake in the shape of Odesa with a monument to Duke in the shape of Hennadiy Trukhanov himself, as well as books by Russian writers, some of whom were named after the city streets until last year.
In addition to the usual posters "We demand 600 million from the city budget for drones!" and "Will you wake up when the direction is Odesa?", the protesters held a poster "How do you like the cake, Mr. Mayor?".
Photo: Odesa Life
As of January 1, 2025, Odesa has spent almost UAH 2.4 billion from the city budget for 2014 on defense. The funds were used to support the Ukrainian military and to restore damaged infrastructure after the shelling.
Earlier, members of the Odesa City Council allocated more than UAH 92 million in the city's 2025 budget to restore residential buildings damaged by Russian strikes.
More than 50 such actions have taken place in Odesa since last year. For example, on August 24, several dozen activists lined up along Preobrazhenska Street on Soborna Square to mark the one-year anniversary of the beginning of the protests.
The March 23rally became the 29th only because the rally on Saturday, March 2, was canceled due to the Day of Mourning. So the September 30 rally became the anniversary rally.
The first action took place on August 28, 2023, when the Odesa City Council approved the allocation of 106 million for the repair of the Kyiv District Court and Kateryna Nozhevnikova, the head of the Monster Corporation charity foundation , announced a picket outside the Odesa City Council. But this year, August 28 is a Wednesday.
The single picket of the Odesa volunteer turned into a mass rally because of the desire of Odessans to support the volunteer.
More than 100 people came to the rally, and since then the rallies have become a tradition. Kateryna Nozhevnikova also stated that she was ready to come to the mayor's office every day to prevent such senseless spending of budget funds.
In November 2023, Kateryna Nozhevnikova decided to stop protesting, satisfied that the Odesa City Council had decided to cancel the procurement. However, she did not call on other protesters to stop their actions, leaving it to their own discretion.
In July 2024, an initiative group of citizens who hold "Money for the Armed Forces" rallies every Saturday met with Odesa Mayor Hennadiy Trukhanov.
The activists were told that at the end of June, MPs voted to amend the law to allow municipalities to make purchases for all units of the Armed Forces. The law is now awaiting the signature of the President of Ukraine, but for it to work, amendments to the Budget Code are also needed.
Кирило Бойко