A year ago a non-governmental organisation called "Defence of the State" appeared in Ukraine - a structure that declares support for the military, veterans, their families and civilians, but publishes no information about its sources of funding or its leadership. According to its YouTube channel, the organisation has already opened 92 branches and 70 offices, although YouControl data shows only 23 separate subdivisions officially registered.
So a logical question arises: who is funding all this? Offices, teams, trips, events, an information campaign, the work of administrators, lawyers and psychologists - all of it requires significant resources. Another question: who runs this organisation? There is no information about governing bodies, board members or biographies of its leaders on the organisation's website or social media.
We want to answer these questions using the example of its Poltava branch, because an organisation is first of all its people. In Poltava region the branch of the NGO "Defence of the State" is headed by Petro Vorona, former chairman of the Poltava Regional Council and former head of the regional organisation of the UDAR party. The city of Poltava is the responsibility of Oleksandr Artemenko, who at different times was a city council member from the "Front of Changes" and "Serhiy Kaplin's Party of Ordinary People", and also served as director of the economy and investment department of Poltava City Council.
In other words, the organisation has gathered people with a political and managerial past. Formally, this is not a violation. But when an NGO works on the subject of the military and veterans, and political figures appear around it, the question of transparency becomes especially important.
We do not claim that the law has been broken. But if the NGO "Defence of the State" really works solely in the interests of the military and citizens, the best way to remove all questions is very simple: publicly disclose its sources of funding, the amounts involved and how decisions are made.
If you also believe that society has the right to know who stands behind such organisations and how they are funded, join RESISTANCE.