Reuters reported that according to military advisor to President Volodymyr Zelensky, Mr. Pavlo Palisa, after 2 months of Ukraine launching a national military recruitment campaign to attract young people to join the army, up to now, there have been no 500 people signing contracts.
Mr. Palisa admitted that the current number is not enough to reduce the burden on the army, which is facing the overwhelming Russian force in terms of numbers. However, he emphasized that this is only the first phase of the program, which was initially applied to 6 brigades and will be expanded to 24 in the coming time.
In January this year, President Zelensky said Ukraine had about 980,000 soldiers serving, while Russia had raised the total number to 1.5 million since last year.
The young soldier recruitment program is part of efforts to rejuvenate the team and strengthen the force. Previously, Ukraine reduced the age of mandatory military service from 27 to 25, applied to most adult men.
However, according to officials, this program is different from compulsory service in that participants have the right to voluntarily decide whether to join the army or not.
Reuters said that young volunteer drivers can receive a salary of up to $2,900/month, much higher than the average of about 520 USD in Ukraine. In addition, they will receive a cash reward of $24,000 and a year of exemption from compulsory military service after completing their service.
Although financial treatment is considered attractive, the commander of the Da Vinci Wolves battalion at the Pokrovsk front, Mr. Serhii Filimonov, said that many young people had volunteered to join the army before the program was deployed.
According to him, the driving force of fighting should not come from money, but from friends, family and the future. Therefore, he does not expect too many young people aged 18-24 to be attracted just for financial rewards.
Meanwhile, military coach Oleksandr Moroz admitted that most of the players he has trained are attracted to economic incentives. However, he said that the number of recruitments so far is still just a "salt" in the effort to lower the average age of the frontline force.
