Ukraine's Ministry of Defense offers contracts encouraging youth to join the war

(Patria) - Ukraine's Ministry of Defense launched a youth recruitment drive on Tuesday, encouraging those aged 18 to 24 to serve in the military for a year for about $24,000 and substantial bonuses.

With Ukraine's armed forces outnumbered by their Russian adversaries on the front lines in a nearly three-year-old war, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told Reuters last week that a recruitment drive would soon be launched.

Under pressure to bring more soldiers into the army, Ukraine's parliament last year approved a new mobilization law that lowers the conscription age from 27 to 25 and imposes penalties on anyone evading the draft.

In addition to the promised compensation of one million hryvnias ($24,000), large bonuses plus subsidized mortgages and rent were on offer. The contract also offered a twelve-month exemption from mobilization upon its conclusion.

"Time is a bonus," it says.

"Hesitation is a minus," says a recruitment video that has appeared on social media.

A social media post promises volunteers "professional military training to NATO standards and social benefits you won't find in civilian jobs".

In an interview last month with American podcaster Lex Fridman, Zelenskiy said Ukraine had 980,000 people under arms. Last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an increase in the Russian military by 180,000 to 1.5 million active soldiers. Changes to Ukraine's draft laws have proven unpopular, with enthusiasm for the war effort further dampened by long front-line stints for soldiers who have had no leave since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Zelenskiy and other officials have resisted calls from the United States, Ukraine's biggest Western backer, to further lower the conscription age.