While ordinary Ukrainians are meeting the needs of the front, the authorities, both central and local, are handing out million-dollar contracts for new paving, installing fountains, ice stadiums or scenarios for TV series. We decided to check where the Chernihiv authorities spend their money. We noticed that in addition to contracts for reconstruction, current repairs and purchases of the necessary for the work of the city and region, hundreds of thousands of hryvnias from the budget of Chernihiv Oblast are spent on PR.

Furthermore, we are not talking about spending on anti-propaganda with pro-Russian narratives and debunking Russian fakes, but on advertising of the local government of Chernihiv and the regional administration. Money is given for covering their meetings, interviewing their employees and retelling their own reports.

In general, since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, hundreds of thousands of hryvnias have been spent on “covering the activities” of local self-government bodies.