In the midst of battles in Toretsk, local authorities plan to purchase elite watches for hundreds of thousands of hryvnias.

The Toretsk City Military Administration has announced a tender to purchase 120 wristwatches with Japanese mechanisms and gold plating for a total of 240 thousand hryvnias.

The Toretsk City Military Administration has announced a tender to acquire 100 men's and 20 women's watches. The watches feature a Japanese quartz mechanism with a second hand and calendar, a brass case with IPG coating, and genuine leather straps. The city's coat of arms and the inscription 'TORETSK CITY ADMINISTRATION' will be displayed on the watch dials.

The delivery of the watches is planned to be made to Druzhkivka, as part of Toretsk is currently under occupation. Acting commander of the 'Tsunami' regiment of the 'Rage' brigade, with the call sign 'Mansur', stated that the frontline passes through the center of the city, and the enemy is destroying buildings.

There are very few residents left in Toretsk - about 60 people who refused to evacuate. The rest of the townspeople have already left the city.

The watches are being purchased as part of a city program to honor military personnel and officials working for the benefit of the Toretsk community.

Occupied cities receive significant funding

The Severodonetsk City Military Administration also has significant expenditures planned for 2025, including employment programs, urban planning documentation development, and other expenses.

The budget of Severodonetsk allocates 5 million hryvnias for population disaster protection programs, although the city is under Russian occupation.

The same situation exists in Pokrovsk, where the total budget revenue for 2025 is 656.9 million hryvnias. Of this, 559.4 million are tax revenues, and 96.9 million are official transfers.

Political expert Yuriy Romanenko believes that expenditures on maintaining the government apparatus in cities not controlled by Ukrainian authorities are unreasonable and unnecessary.