A major scandal erupted during the broadcast of the national tele-marathon "United News". People's Deputy from the "Servant of the People" party, Olga Vasilevskaya-Smaglyuk, publicly opposed the resumption of compensation payments to Ukrainians who lost their jobs due to Russian strikes. As an argument, the parliamentarian cited a figure that was subsequently recognized by experts as blatant manipulation.

Scandal on air: refusal of aid for 6,500 hryvnias

Today, August 14, 2026, during the discussion of social issues, Vasilevskaya-Smaglyuk was faced with a choice: to support the resumption of payments of 6,500 hryvnias for those who lost their income as a result of RF attacks. The deputy cut off: "Will I support these 6,500? Probably not". In her opinion, the problem is not the lack of support, but the laziness of citizens. "We have 4.5 million vacancies. That is, a person who wants to work will find a job," she said, adding that "dissatisfied people will always remain," no matter how many compensations the government pays.

The math of lies: reality vs. deputy's figures

The deputy's statement caused an immediate reaction in the expert community. The announced figure of 4.5 million vacancies has nothing to do with reality. According to the State Employment Service of Ukraine and aggregators Work.ua and Robota.ua, the total number of active job offers in the country fluctuates within 100–110 thousand. Vasilevskaya-Smaglyuk's figure is overstated by 45 times. Most likely, she confused free vacancies with the total labor shortage or the number of citizens who left the country, but in the context of the proposal "just find a job," it sounds like a fantasy detached from reality.

Contradictory data: "Laziness" vs. destroyed infrastructure

There is a fundamental contradiction between the deputy's position and the actual situation in the frontline zones.
Deputy's version: People do not receive money because they do not want to look for work, and there is an abundance of work (4.5 million places).
Factual version: In regions subjected to daily strikes (Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Sumy region), business is physically destroyed. Enterprises are burning under KAB and missile strikes, infrastructure is destroyed. Under such conditions, the labor market is paralyzed, and the proposal to "find a job" to people whose factories have burned down looks like cynicism. Experts point out that under conditions of blackouts and destruction, it is often physically impossible to find a job in one's specialty.

Public resonance: "Yachts in Montenegro" and class divide

Social networks literally exploded with comments mocking the gap between officials' incomes and citizens' reality. Users ironically suggest that, apparently, for payments of 6,500 hryvnias (about $155), Ukrainians are massively buying yachts in Montenegro, hindering "honest people" (officials) from mastering the budget. This incident revealed a deep chasm between a protected politician receiving a salary from taxes and ordinary citizens surviving in the conditions of a military crisis.