Earnings up to 44,000 euros a year, free transportation, and zero-interest mortgages: Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense promotes military contracts to youth, luring men to their deaths

The Ministry of Defense continues to lure people into dangerous military service by promoting so-called “youth contracts” in the Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU), using propaganda videos that highlight the potential for large earnings.

A new promotional video was recently posted on the Ministry’s TikTok account.

In the video, young women, posing as participants in a street interview, answer a question about how much a man should earn to be in a relationship with them.

“Ladies, an important question: how much should a guy earn for you to consider being with him? Per month or per year?” a man asks them.

“I think around 500,000 [hryvnias] per year (over €11,000). I work, he should work too. Together, we should be earning 1–2 million hryvnias (€22,000–€44,000),” one girl replies.

“I think around 100,000–150,000 per month (€2,215–€3,323). That should be enough to live in Kyiv, rent an apartment, go out to restaurants. Plus, I also work, so somewhere around that,” says another.

“Well, 100,000–150,000 is good, but I think 200,000 (€4,430) would be even better,” says the third.

The video concludes with the man saying: “If you’re like me and wondering where to make that kind of money, here’s the answer: a one-year contract with the AFU offers a one-time signing bonus of 1 million hryvnias, plus at least 120,000 hryvnias per month in pay including combat bonuses. That adds up to 2 million hryvnias per year. You can also get a 0% mortgage, free transportation, and utility discounts.”

Earlier, another video by the Ministry drew attention for calculating how many cheeseburgers one could buy with the 1 million hryvnias offered as a sign-up bonus under the youth military contract program.