Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy plans to ask European allies to help finance improved salaries for troops resisting Russia’s invasion, in a bid to ease growing shortages of recruits.
"Previously, Europeans refused to provide funding for the salaries of our military personnel, only for weapons,” Zelenskyy told reporters in Kyiv on Thursday. "Our service members themselves can be the weapon that protects everyone.”
With a mobilization campaign in Ukraine increasingly unpopular among a population fatigued by the war that’s in its fourth year, Zelenskyy’s government wants to motivate more volunteers by offering substantial payments for those who sign military contracts. Russia has long offered large signing bonuses and high salaries to lure tens of thousands to its army each month, seeking to avoid any repeat of a spike in public anxiety when President Vladimir Putin ordered a partial draft a few months into the 2022 invasion.
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