News24 | Ukraine hikes military pay and seeks more foreign fighters, Zelensky says
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky arrives in Downing Street ahead of a meeting of European allies to discuss ongoing support for Ukraine hosted by British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer in London, United Kingdom, on 7 June.
Wiktor Szymanowicz/Future Publishing via Getty Images
Ukraine will raise basic military wages by one-third to 30 000 hryvnias, approximately $700 per month.Frontline infantry soldiers will receive around $7 000 per month, up from roughly $2 000 to $3 000.Ukraine secured a €90 billion EU loan, enabling record defence spending of $97 billion this year.Ukraine will hike military wages and seek to recruit more fighters abroad, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday, as the army faces a staffing shortage after four years of war with Russia.Zelensky’s government said in May it would study possible measures to boost the number of military personnel after talks on ending the war with Russia stalled.“We agreed on how to increase the financial resilience of our defence and further transformation of the Ukrainian army,” Zelensky said in his daily address after meeting key cabinet ministers. “The cabinet of ministers will approve a specific mechanism, and the government should start the first new payments as early as June,” he added.Defence spending boost Ukraine has secured a €90 billion loan from the European Union, allowing the government to increase defence spending to a record 4.4 trillion hryvnias ($97 billion) this year. The funds are due to start flowing this month.Zelensky said on Friday the government would raise the basic military wage by one-third to 30 000 hryvnias ($700).The step was aimed at matching the country’s average monthly salary, which has steadily risen during the war due to staff shortages, military analysts and economists said.READ | Ukraine’s Zelensky calls for Putin ‘direct engagement’ to end war with RussiaInfantry soldiers fighting on the frontline will receive an average monthly salary of 300 000 hryvnias (about $7 000), up from about 100 000 to 150 000 hryvnias at present.They will also be offered a new type of fixed-term contract for 10, 14, or 24 months for combat duties.Kyiv also wants to recruit more foreign fighters. “I have instructed to create significantly more opportunities to recruit foreign volunteers into the Ukrainian army, and there will be more recruitment channels in this regard,” Zelensky said.About 10 000 foreign volunteers have joined the Ukrainian army from more than 70 countries since the war began, according to estimates by Ukrainian military publications.
