Ukraine has launched a military recruitment campaign targeting 18 to 24-year-olds as army chiefs try to address a manpower crisis on the front lines.
Offering a one-year contract with a salary of about $24,000 and additional bonuses, the initiative comes as Kyiv faces high rates of desertion amid falling morale and heavy casualties. Russia’s stark numerical advantage has helped its troops to advance steadily on the eastern battlefield, as its full-scale invasion nears its fourth year.
The drive to woo younger recruits was launched hours before a massive Russian ballistic missile attack struck civilian infrastructure in Kyiv. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was also expected to meet US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent later on Wednesday to discuss ending the war and securing US access to the country’s natural resources.
The campaign was announced on Tuesday evening alongside a promotional video showing a montage of soldiers leaping into action as cash rolls off a printer. As rock music plays, an opening message declares: “Change your life in a year.”
“This is a new approach to building a professional army,” said defence minister Rustem Umerov. “We are engaging motivated warriors, providing them with development opportunities, and creating fair conditions for service.”
Ukraine’s defence ministry said the new contract includes general military training to Nato standards, specialised instruction and social benefits.
Recruits will receive a package of 1mn hryvnia, or about $24,000, paid in instalments: $4,800 on enlisting; $7,200 after training; and $12,000 on discharge. Monthly support with additional pay for combat missions can bring the total income for a year’s service to about $48,000.
Recruits will also be eligible for subsidies for rents and mortgages, as well as state-funded higher education, and the right to travel abroad after completion of service. Currently, under martial law, Ukraine does not allow men aged 18 to 60 to leave the country.
Additionally, they will be exempt from mobilisation for 12 months following their service.
The campaign comes as Kyiv faces mounting pressure to strengthen its military ranks even as US President Donald Trump pushes for a swift end to the war.
Last year, Ukraine’s parliament lowered the draft age from 27 to 25 and introduced penalties for draft evasion. But Kyiv’s western partners have encouraged it to mobilise more men.
Trump’s national security adviser Michael Waltz said the US would push Ukraine to lower its conscription age to 18. The move “could generate hundreds of thousands of new soldiers”, he added.
“We hear about morale problems . . . about issues on the front line,” Waltz said last month. “If the Ukrainians have asked the entire world to be all in for democracy, we need them to be all in for democracy.”
Zelenskyy has resisted lowering the draft age further, in large part over fears of creating future demographic challenges. He said last month that Ukraine’s army currently stands at 980,000 troops, while Russia, which expanded its army last year, has about 1.5mn active servicemen.
Franz-Stefan Gady, a senior fellow at the UK-based International Institute for Strategic Studies, said: “Ukraine needs to fix its manpower issue if it wants to stabilise the front line and strengthen its negotiation position for any potential peace talks.”
Gady was cautious about the recruitment drive’s prospects, warning that “volunteerism at this stage in the war [is] increasingly reaching its limits”.
After three years of war, “there’s exhaustion in society and it’s going to be increasingly difficult to recruit volunteers because of it”, Gady said.
He also cited the “corrosive effect” of the Trump administration’s push for peace talks or a ceasefire.
“The idea here is that, if the war is going to be over in a couple of months . . . why would we sign up now and potentially get killed if there’s going to be a ceasefire in a few weeks or months down the road?”
Meanwhile, the Russian ballistic missile attack on Kyiv on Wednesday killed one person, injured four and damaged civilian infrastructure, according to authorities. Zelenskyy said the attack was evidence that Russian President Vladimir Putin had no intention of ending the war he launched against Ukraine in February 2022.
“Putin is not preparing for peace — he continues to kill Ukrainians and destroy cities,” Zelenskyy said, calling on Kyiv’s western partners to increase military assistance for Kyiv.
“We need the unity and support of all our partners in the fight for a just end to this war.”