Cabinet of Ministers is asked to redirect budget funds from telethon to UAVs and pickups for Armed Forces – petition
A petition has been registered on the website of the Cabinet of Ministers with a proposal to redirect funds intended for the "United News" and "Freedom" telethons to finance UAVs and pickups for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
According to Censor.NET, petition #41/005936-24eп was registered by Pavel Bilous (Kabul), a member of the Coordination Council of the Surrender Movement, a member of the Maidan Self-Defense, who later went as a volunteer fighter to defend Ukraine, fought as part of the 25th Separate Motorized Infantry Battalion " Kyivan Rus" in Debaltseve. On February 24, Kabul stood up to defend Kyiv, recently demobilized from the Air Assault Forces, having served as a combat medic in Kyiv, Kherson, Bakhmut, and Zaporizhzhia.
"While you were complaining about the persecution of journalists, I registered a petition demanding that public funds be redirected from the telethon to the Armed Forces. I stayed at home for a week after demobilization, was a little sick and had the misfortune to watch the telethon of the United News.
Friends, this shit has to stop. I'm not talking about the dope Freedom.
We cannot spend a lot of money on news that is not truthful, biased, one-sided and uninteresting. At a time when there is a shortage of drones and vehicles, when partner assistance is delayed, we need to spend all our money on the Armed Forces. And not to sponsor oligarchs at the expense of taxpayers.
That's why I registered the petition. First, on the President's website. It was rejected twice, despite the fact that I indicated both the powers of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief and the possibility of a presidential legislative initiative. I decided to bypass Bankova Street and registered it on the website of the Cabinet of Ministers.
Please support it. I demand that these channels be closed and that the funds spent on propaganda be directed to the needs of the Armed Forces," he explained on his Facebook page the reason for registering the petition.
"We, the citizens of Ukraine, are appealing to you to act as a subject of legislative initiative (in accordance with Article 93 of the Constitution of Ukraine) and register a draft law to amend the Law No. 3460-IX "On the State Budget of Ukraine for 2024" with appropriate adjustments to redirect the funds intended for the United News and Freedom telethons to finance UAVs and pickups for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Our arguments in favor of this step are as follows:
- The United News and Freedom telethons are extremely expensive for the state budget. In 2022 and 2023, UAH 2.13 billion was spent on them. This amount could have bought 21,515 DJI Mavic 3 quadcopters or 4,000 pickup trucks in good condition. Almost 2 billion hryvnias have already been earmarked for telethons in 2024.
- Telethons are often manipulative sources of information that do not reflect the real situation in the country and the world. The situation at the front is often presented in rosy colors, which relaxes society and, as a result, shocks it when large-scale mobilization activities begin.
- The "United News" and "Freedom" telethons are a means of political struggle.
They use propaganda techniques, such as selective selection of facts, distortion of events, disproportionate dominance of the President's party on the broadcasts glorifying the President and his team. Such information policy undermines democratic values and contributes to the division of society.
- The "United News" and "Freedom" telethons are a tools for enriching the owners of TV channels, who receive money from the budget to create products for the telethons. Among them are well-known businessmen such as Victor Pinchuk, Ihor Kolomoiskyi, Dmytro Firtash, and former Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Kyrylo Tymoshenko, among others.
In view of the above, we believe that the telethons of "United News" and "Freedom" are harmful to the national security, democracy and economy of Ukraine. We demand to stop broadcasting the telethons and reallocate the funds allocated for them to the country's defense needs," the petition reads.
You can support the petition here.
