President Volodymyr Zelensky announced Friday that Ukraine plans to raise military pay, reform contracts and implement a phased discharge system for long-serving personnel.
The reforms, which began in June, are aimed at addressing an acute shortage of manpower after more than four years of full-scale war with Russia.
What reforms did Zelensky announce?
In a Telegram message, Zelensky said the first reforms should be delivered in June, starting with increased financial support for soldiers, sergeants and commanders.
The monthly salary of infantry soldiers will increase to 250,000 to 400,000 hryvnia ($5,700 to $9,000, €4,850 to €7,670), up from the current maximum of 170,000 hryvnia for those deployed behind or in front of enemy lines for 30 days.
Non-combat personnel will receive an increase from 20,000 to 30,000 hryvnia per month.
Zelensky also announced a “phased discharge” for troops mobilized at the beginning of the war, based on clear, time-based criteria.
This change will effectively end the existing system of open-ended contracts. He did not give any specific timeline for demonetisation and said the details were still being finalised.
While hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian men volunteered in the early months of Russia’s 2022 invasion, almost all new recruits have now become conscripts.
The military has faced repeated criticism for heavy-handed recruitment practices, including reports of forced detention, street abductions and so-called “mistreatment”, where men of military age are gathered in public places and taken directly to recruitment centers.
Cases of soldiers being absent without leave (AWOL) are also widespread, and corruption allows some wealthy or well-connected individuals to avoid service through bribery.
Ukraine targets Russian Black Sea oil terminal
In other developments, Ukrainian forces on Friday attacked an oil terminal in the Russian Black Sea port of Tuapse, Ukraine’s General Staff said.
Local Russian officials confirmed the attack, saying it caused a fire but caused no casualties. Last month also this facility was targeted thrice.
Regional Governor Veniamin Kondratyev said a fire at the city’s oil refinery had been extinguished on Thursday, hours before the latest attack.
Moscow’s forces have intensified their attacks
Meanwhile, Russia stepped up its air campaign against Ukrainian territory, launching more than 50 drones at the western city of Ternopil on Friday, wounding at least 10 people, according to Mayor Serhiy Nadal.
In the southern Odessa region, drone strikes overnight damaged two multi-storey residential buildings and port infrastructure.
Ukraine’s emergency service reported that an apartment in a 16-story building was destroyed, with a fire also breaking out on the upper floors of another high-rise building.
Zelensky said additional attacks overnight on the central city of Kryvyi Rih and the northeastern Kharkiv region caused damage to railway infrastructure.
He also said Ukrainian drone strikes had cost Russia’s oil industry at least $7 billion (€6 billion) so far this year.
According to Zelensky, this has helped substantially reduce Russia’s oil revenues, which were a major driver of the war in Ukraine.
Edited by: Dmytro Lyubenko