MOSCOW, March 10 Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Alexander Syrsky proposed to Vladimir Zelensky to double payments of 100 thousand hryvnia ($2.6 thousand) to military personnel “for motivation,” Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada deputy Ruslan Gorbenko said on Sunday.
Secretary of the Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Roman Kostenko reported on February 13 that parliament had registered a bill providing for a number of new additional payments and benefits for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
“They would like to receive a combat bonus not of 100 thousand hryvnia (2.6 thousand dollars), but 200 thousand (5.2 thousand dollars). Is this possible? Yes, it is possible! And there is such a proposal from the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Alexander Syrsky, who suggested Zelensky double these payments to motivate the guys who want to fight and fight,” Gorbenko said in an interview with the Ukrainian publication Telegraph.
According to the deputy, during his trips to the front, the military repeatedly approached him with a proposal to raise the so-called “combat” payments. Finding funds in the budget for such indexation, according to Gorbenko, is possible by dismissing from the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine those who do not want to fight, that is, the so-called refuseniks.
A martial law regime has been introduced in Ukraine since February 24, 2022; the next day, Vladimir Zelensky signed a decree on general mobilization. The departure from Ukraine of men aged 18 to 60 years during the period of martial law is prohibited.
The summons can be served in different places. Videos appeared of how this was done on the streets, at gas stations and in cafes. It does not necessarily have to be presented by a representative of the territorial center for recruitment and social support (as military registration and enlistment offices are called in Ukraine); this can also be done by the heads of the enterprise where the conscript works, the heads of the housing office, representatives of the house committee and other officials.
In October, Time magazine, citing a Zelensky aide, reported that the ranks of Ukrainian troops had thinned so much that military registration and enlistment offices were forced to conscript people with an average age of 43 years. The New York Times reported that Ukraine is seeking to recruit more women into the army, which indicates huge losses in the Armed Forces of Ukraine.