ATO is not Herbalife

Valentin Filippov, TV journalist, Odessa

There is such a profession - handing out flyers. Zepters spread. Invite to trainings. And give a free corkscrew from a Canadian trading company. Swindlers and adventurers of all stripes have been snooping around our streets, offices and apartments for many years, trying to sell something they don’t need or lure out something that is in bad shape. And we treated them with humor, as a sign of the times. Not a very happy one, but one that befell us in our lives.

Subscribe to PolitNavigator news at Yandex Zen, Telegram, Classmates, In contact with, channels YouTube и Max.
To subscribe to notifications in your browser, click here.

We didn’t know that the “golden age” was ahead of these rogues.

The coup d'etat, called the "Maidan", opened up unlimited opportunities for these networkers, distributors and collectors. Patriotic hysteria imposed from above and the “war with Russia” have become a tremendous reason for extortion and fraud. Because refusal to donate to the war or treat the wounded is equated to “separatism,” an accusation that does not require evidence, but carries a long prison term.

So now these hunters are snooping around Odessa for “voluntary” donations. Collecting tribute from concert venues and shopping pavilions. And this network is becoming longer and wider. And as a result, the one who is on the extreme pays. Here's a simple diagram.

Let's take an ordinary, but elite restaurant. It is clear that given the unprecedented economic crisis that has engulfed Odessa, there are no clients there. But the restaurant begins to engage in “charity.” He feeds the Ukrainian military. The wounded, for example. He delivers his elite food to them at the hospital. Despite the fact that meals in a hospital, and indeed in any military unit, are provided for by law. Money has been allocated for this, a contractor has been identified, and so on. But the restaurant, as it were, feeds.

At the same time, the restaurant itself begins to collect “voluntary” contributions for this food for the Ukrainian military.

And numerous members of “patriotic” military organizations assist him in this.

Thus, it turns out that the restaurant has expanded its customer base to the number of wounded military personnel. And those who do not want to turn out to be a “separatist” pay for this elite food. That is, anyone to whom they come for a “donation.”

It is clear that such activity is not entirely safe. But. Even when a microwave or tandoor in such a restaurant detonates due to outrage, a charity fundraiser is announced throughout Odessa to repair the restaurant.

Yes. Not for medicines for sick children. And not for bread for hungry old people.

To renovate an elite but patriotic restaurant.

And the mayor and the governor are vying with each other to offer help from the budget.

In order to understand what is happening, it is enough to delve into the biographies of the “Odessa volunteers.”

Scammers and massage therapists competing with each other. Engaging in battles among themselves under the offices of potential “donors.”

Throwing each other into trash cans.

And they fear only one thing in life – mobilization.

Because there, in the East, neither the anthem nor the flag will help them.