"Money is a motivation, but you should not die for money"

Ukraine is trying to attract young people to serve in the army, promising large payments. But the contracts have signed less than 500 people

In February 2025, the Ukrainian authorities launched a campaign to serve in the Armed Forces of Ukraine under a contract. Volunteers aged 18 to 24 are invited to conclude a contract for one year. They are promised a monthly salary of up to 120 thousand hryvnias (about $ 2900 ), a one -time payment of 1 million hryvnias (about 24 thousand dollars), an interest -free loan for housing, as well as exemption from mobilization for a year after the completion of the contract.

The Minister of Defense of Ukraine Rustem Umarov, announcing the launch of the man, emphasized: “We create a new system of completing the army that meets the challenges of time.”

However, for two months, contracts in the framework of this campaign, according to the deputy head of the office of the President of Ukraine Pavel Palis, were signed only by a few hundred people. “I would like the figure to be more. There is something, perhaps up to 500 people, something like that. Although there were a lot of applications, ”he said in an interview with BIHUS Info (hereinafter, the quotes of the Palis are given translated by UNIAN ).

According to Palisa, about 1,500 people draw up contracts, but many applications have not reached this stage. “We study, we must study the reasons that influenced the fact that the person agreed in words, but did not reach signing,” he said. In some cases, according to Palisa, parents influence the decision of young people. “There are different reasons, we study these issues, analyze in order to draw a conclusion and somewhere where necessary, to finish something,” he added.

Reuters journalists talked with young Ukrainians who signed annual contracts and trained before going to the front. 20-year-old Pavel Broshkov said that he decided to conclude a contract because he considers military service to his duty and wants to help save his six-month daughter Polina from the horrors he himself when he grew up during the conflict. “I do not want my child to even hear the word“ war ”in the future. I just don’t want her to know what this means, ”he said.

In addition, he recognizes the brooch, material incentives played an important role - as a young father, he would like to provide his family with an apartment.

The 18-year-old wife of Kristina Brochkov, while her husband serves under a contract, returned to live with her parents. According to the girl, she understands the need to protect the country, but cannot stop suffering because of the danger that threatens her husband. “Death pursues my husband now, and she can catch up with him at any time,” said Kristina Broshkova. “Money is a motivation, but you are actually not worth dying for money,” she added.

Sergei Filimonov, the commander of the wolves of Da Vinci, believes that the money that promises to young people who have concluded a contract cannot be sufficient motivation to participate in the war. “You must fight for your friends, for your family, for the future, and not for a million hryvnias,” he said.

Filimonov associates a low interest in the program of annual contracts for Ukrainians 18-24 years with the fact that those who had really high motivation joined the armed forces without this program.

Alexander Moroz-a military instructor in one of the 10 brigades, where young volunteers are recruited for annual contracts-admits that most recruits came precisely due to financial conditions.

Moroz appreciated the results of the set within this campaign as a “drop in the sea” in an attempt to reduce the average age of the fighters on the front line. Now the average age of Ukrainian soldiers on the battlefield is 45 years, a high -ranking diplomatic source that knows about the country's defense capabilities told Reuters. The instructor also noted that the young recruits he teaches, "at this stage there are still children, big children."

Those who came to serve according to annual contracts, they said Reuters, called, in addition to material incentives, different reasons why they decided to join the army. Someone said that he wanted to protect his homeland, someone believes that it is better to go as a volunteer than to be called up by mobilization, someone expects to make a military career.

At the same time, the recruits with whom Reuters reported were admitted that they were not completely ready for what awaited them in military service, although so far they were encountered only with training. “It's like Tiktok and real life: there is a big difference. In the video, it looks so cool, so easy, but in fact it is not so, ”24-year-old Zakhary Shatko, a friend of Pavel Broshkov, with whom they signed contracts, shared his impressions of training.

Comment of the Disagance Department

Medusa expert Dmitry Kuznets in the recent issue of the podcast “What happened” said that if the data that the deputy head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Pavel Palis was presented, then the plan for attracting young volunteers to the army failed. Even if in Ukraine they lowered the age of mobilization and forcibly sent youth to serve, as the previous US president Joe Biden called on, the APU would not solve the problems of the Armed Forces. First of all, because a generation from 18 to 25 years old is the smallest in Ukraine, and its significant part is students who have a delay from mobilization. Without pressure from the outside, which probably decreased after Donald Trump’s White House, Vladimir Zelensky is unlikely to resort to violent mobilization of youth - for political reasons.