Cash bonus for a year fighting Russia? Inside Ukraine’s youth recruitment drive

Despite a promotional video and the promise of various benefits, only 500 children between 18 and 24 years old responded to the appeal. While there are tens of thousands of desertions. Volodymyr Zelensky's intention to send young Ukrainians to fight is proving to be a flop. Since last February...

A failing recruitment drive Fewer than 500 volunteers have enlisted with Ukraine’s military under a new program meant to recruit men too young for the draft

In February 2025, the Ukrainian authorities launched a campaign to recruit volunteers for contract military service. Ukrainians between the ages of 18 and 24 can enlist for a single year in exchange for a one-time payment of 1 million hryvnias (about $24,000), an interest-free housing loan, and a monthly salary of up to 120,000 hryvnias (about $2,900) — 5.5 times more than the average pay in Ukraine. Volunteers would also be exempt from Ukraine’…

Two months after Ukraine launched a nationwide campaign to recruit young people into the army, outnumbered by Russia after three years of war, fewer than 500 people have signed military contracts, according to Pavlo Palisa, the military adviser to the...

Cash bonus for a year fighting Russia? Inside Ukraine’s youth recruitment drive

Fewer than 500 have signed contracts. Read more at straitstimes.com.

With the beginning of a full-scale invasion of Russian troops, Vitaly joined the ranks of territorial defense, kept guard at a checkpoint around the city of Nova Odessa in the Nikolaev area. Before the beginning of active hostilities, he worked in a carpentry shop, was engaged in construction. He has a wife, two sons: the elder is 26 years old, he is a lieutenant of the National Guard of Ukraine; the younger is 11 — a schoolboy, but he also drea…

The Ukrainian army is struggling with an increasingly serious shortage of personnel, so Zelensky and the General Staff are trying to lure young people to the front.