Civic Patrol Initiative Movement

The Civic Patrol Initiative Movement (Ukrainian: Ініціативний рух «Громадський патруль», also known as Civic Patrol of Donetsk Oblast) is a Ukrainian non-governmental organization founded in 2016 in Druzhkivka, Donetsk Oblast. It is a team of journalists and civic activists specializing in anti-corruption and economic investigations into the illegal and inefficient activities of government bodies at various levels in Donetsk Oblast. The organization was officially registered in April 2016 by residents of Druzhkivka — Yevhen Yevreiskyi, Denys Myronov, Serhii Pronkin, Viktor Sotnikov — and Lviv resident Pavlo Ostrovskyi. Denys Myronov serves as the head of the organization. The organization's geographic coverage focuses on small and medium communities in northern Donetsk Oblast, including Druzhkivka, Kostiantynivka, Dobropillia, Pokrovsk, Bakhmut, Sloviansk, and Sviatohirsk. Activists monitor current situations in education, healthcare, housing and communal services, and local self-government. Among the subjects of their investigations are mayors of several cities, local and national deputies, representatives of the judiciary and law enforcement, and heads of state institutions. Members of the organization believe that responsible, accountable, transparent government and a developed civil society are the keys to the state's development. The organization runs several projects, including "Civic Patrol of Donetsk Oblast," which provides broad coverage and counteraction of corruption factors in selected cities of Donetsk Oblast using modern monitoring tools and media products, and aims to create a broad and institutionally capable coalition of anti-corruption initiatives among non-governmental organizations in the involved cities. This project is supported by the National Endowment for Democracy (USA). Another project, "Civic Anti-Corruption Guard of Druzhkivka 2017," focuses on electronic declaration and lifestyle monitoring of high-ranking officials, deputies, judges, and law enforcement officers, including verification through state registers of movable and immovable property rights and business connections. A third project, "Development and Implementation of a Complex of Anti-Corruption Initiatives for Communities of Donetsk Oblast," implemented in 2016 with support from the International Renaissance Foundation, involves constant monitoring of compliance with financial legislation by local authorities, monitoring the lifestyle of persons authorized to perform local self-government functions, and informing the Financial Inspectorate and law enforcement about violations with signs of corruption. The organization has reported numerous results from its activities. In 2016, it monitored the lifestyle of local self-government officials, obtained 30 declarations from representatives of the Druzhkivka City Council, initiated administrative proceedings against the head of the Druzhkivka City Court for non-compliance with public information legislation and failure to provide judges' declarations, and conducted a series of investigations into repair works in Druzhkivka, revealing violations of building norms. In 2017, it covered the work of NABU in criminal proceedings regarding bribery charges against the head of the Druzhkivka City Court and investigated the main contractor of the Donetsk Oblast Military-Civil Administration, "Okvin-5," for repair and construction works across Donetsk Oblast.

The Civic Patrol Initiative Movement was officially registered in April 2016 in Druzhkivka, Donetsk Oblast. Its founders were local residents Yevhen Yevreiskyi, Denys Myronov, Serhii Pronkin, Viktor Sotnikov, and Lviv resident Pavlo Ostrovskyi. The organization emerged as a team of journalists and civic activists focused on anti-corruption and economic investigations into the illegal and inefficient activities of government bodies at various levels in Donetsk Oblast. From its inception, the organization concentrated on small and medium communities in northern Donetsk Oblast, including Druzhkivka, Kostiantynivka, Dobropillia, Pokrovsk, Bakhmut, Sloviansk, and Sviatohirsk. Activists monitored education, healthcare, housing and communal services, and local self-government. Their investigations targeted mayors, local and national deputies, judges, law enforcement officers, and heads of state institutions. In 2016, the organization implemented the project "Development and Implementation of a Complex of Anti-Corruption Initiatives for Communities of Donetsk Oblast" with support from the International Renaissance Foundation. That year, it monitored the lifestyle of local self-government officials, obtained 30 declarations from Druzhkivka City Council representatives, and initiated administrative proceedings against the head of the Druzhkivka City Court for non-compliance with public information legislation and failure to provide judges' declarations. It also conducted a series of investigations into repair works in Druzhkivka, revealing violations of building norms. In 2017, the organization ran the project "Civic Anti-Corruption Guard of Druzhkivka 2017," focusing on electronic declaration and lifestyle monitoring of high-ranking officials, deputies, judges, and law enforcement officers, including verification through state registers of property rights and business connections. It also covered the work of NABU in criminal proceedings regarding bribery charges against the head of the Druzhkivka City Court and investigated the main contractor of the Donetsk Oblast Military-Civil Administration, "Okvin-5," for repair and construction works across Donetsk Oblast. The project "Civic Patrol of Donetsk Oblast" was supported by the National Endowment for Democracy (USA). In 2018, the organization conducted numerous investigations: in Bakhmut about the city's home insulation program; into charitable contributions from parents in Druzhkivka schools; into corruption schemes built by Bakhmut mayor Oleksii Reva; into the activities of the communal enterprise "Komerservis" in Druzhkivka; into family clans in Druzhkivka that concentrated power and the city budget; into the "non-labor earnings" of the head of the Main Department of the State Service of Ukraine on Labor Issues in Donetsk Oblast, Volodymyr Shubin, detained for a million-dollar bribe; into violations in the electronic declaration of the daughter of Druzhkivka mayor, Karyna Hnatenko; into the use of administrative resources by the "Our Land" party during a community cleanup in Druzhkivka; into unjustified heat tariffs in Dobropillia; into violations of building norms during road repairs in Druzhkivka; and into the victory in tenders for large-scale reconstruction of water supply and sewerage networks and construction of new water pipelines worth 180 million hryvnias by the dubious firm "Donetsk Institute of Water." As a result of a violation found in the electronic declaration of Druzhkivka deputy mayor Ruslan Vereshchahin, an administrative case was opened and the official was fined 1,700 hryvnias. In 2019, the organization investigated the use of anonymous sociologists in campaigning ahead of the presidential elections in Druzhkivka; covered the activities and lifestyle of the director of the State Architectural and Construction Inspection of Donetsk Oblast, former head of Horlivka police Pavlo Panasiuk; investigated the business of Bakhmut city council deputy Volodymyr Ivankov; provided official observers during the presidential elections on March 31, 2019, and April 21, 2019, revealing violations; uncovered embezzlement of funds for poor-quality repairs and inflated prices during the reconstruction of elevator facilities in Druzhkivka; investigated the activities of national deputy from Donetsk Oblast Yurii Solod; analyzed the level of transparency of local authorities and citizen involvement in solving urgent issues in Kostiantynivka, Druzhkivka, and Pokrovsk; investigated the embezzlement of 44 million hryvnias in the construction of barracks for military personnel in Bakhmut; examined delays in the reconstruction of Soborna Square in Druzhkivka; and revealed the embezzlement of 40 million hryvnias for non-existent mini-boiler houses in Pokrovsk.

• 2019

  Provided official observers during the presidential elections on March 31 and April 21, revealing violations.

• 2019

  Investigated embezzlement of 44 million hryvnias in construction of barracks in Bakhmut and 40 million hryvnias for non-existent mini-boiler houses in Pokrovsk.

• 2018

  Investigated corruption schemes of Bakhmut mayor Oleksii Reva and family clans in Druzhkivka.

• 2018

  As a result of a violation found in the electronic declaration of Druzhkivka deputy mayor Ruslan Vereshchahin, an administrative case was opened and the official was fined 1,700 hryvnias.

• 2017

  Ran project "Civic Anti-Corruption Guard of Druzhkivka 2017" focusing on electronic declaration and lifestyle monitoring.

• 2016

  Organization officially registered in Druzhkivka, Donetsk Oblast.

• 2016

  Implemented project "Development and Implementation of a Complex of Anti-Corruption Initiatives for Communities of Donetsk Oblast" with support from the International Renaissance Foundation.

Anti-corruption monitoring and investigative journalism for local communities in Donetsk Oblast.

1. 1Civic Patrol Initiative Movement - Wikidatawikidata.org
2. 2Ініціативний рух «Громадський патруль» - Ukrainian Wikipediauk.wikipedia.org