For a lawyer and a loan at someone else’s expense: a mobilized gay man, a language inspector from Odesa, explained what he is raising over 11,000 euros for

The mobilized language inspector and openly gay man from Odesa, Oleksandr Leonenko, explained why he is raising half a million hryvnias (more than €11,000). According to him, the funds are needed to pay off a large loan and hire a lawyer.

Leonenko shared this information on his Instagram account.

Journalists asked Leonenko whether he was collecting money for a bribe to avoid military service, as many online users speculated. He assured that the money is intended for legal assistance to challenge the decision of the military medical commission.

“I am working with a lawyer to appeal the decision of the military medical commission, and the lawyer is expensive. I don’t have any money. I am currently hospitalized and feeling very unwell. While I am in the hospital, I need to resolve the appeal against the commission’s decision regarding my fitness. With my diagnoses, I am unfit, but the military medical commission violated the law,” Leonenko wrote.

Later, he added that another purpose of the fundraiser is to pay off a loan of 350,000 hryvnias, which he is unable to repay due to his mobilization.

He explained the urgency of the fundraiser, which he set to last six days, citing his discharge from the hospital.

“In six days, I will be discharged from the hospital, where I am currently admitted, and sent back to the training ground. If I don’t resolve the appeal against the military medical commission’s decision by then, I will die on the training ground on the very first day due to my terrible health,” he wrote.

It is worth recalling that a week ago, Leonenko reported that he had been mobilized and was being transported to a training center. He stated that police had brought him to the territorial recruitment center after he went there to file a complaint about an Odesa entrepreneur using the Russian language.

Yesterday, he announced the fundraiser for half a million hryvnias (over €11,000). Online speculation suggested it was intended as a bribe to avoid military service.