In October 2023, the first action with the slogan “Drones instead of paving stones” took place in Lutsk. The participants demanded that the Lutsk City Council, instead of capital repairs of city streets, spend money on the purchase of the necessary equipment for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

As of the end of November, five such actions have already taken place, and the movement itself has become more organized. The participants use tools of public participation, mass media and other means to achieve the allocation of larger sums for the Armed Forces and civil defense not only from the Lutsk budget, but also from the regional budget.

We spoke with the co-founder of this movement in Lutsk, Anatolii Kotliuk, about their plan of action and demands to the authorities. He said that public activists are negotiating with the authorities at various levels regarding the allocation of a larger part of the budget for the army and civil defense. In particular, the Lutsk City Council should allocate at least 500 million hryvnias for the Armed Forces of Ukraine next year.

Kotliuk assures that they have no political ambitions and plan to promote greater support for the army and civil defense through public participation methods, including petitions, initiative groups, participation in commissions and working groups at local councils.