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Ukraine’s soldiers face drastic wage cuts as austerity bites [1]
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Date: 2023-03
Ukrainian soldiers have told openDemocracy that a new salary structure, introduced under the extreme economic pressures of Russia’s war, is leaving them unable to buy combat essentials or pay for medical treatment.
As Russian forces bore down on Kyiv in February 2022, President Volodymyr Zelenskyi promised soldiers extremely high wages: each month, in addition to the basic pay of 13,000 hryvnias (£293), they would get an additional 100,000 hryvnias (£2,250) – a sevenfold increase.
“They should know the country is definitely grateful to them,” Zelenskyi said at the time.
The Ukrainian military has fought back against Russian forces, recapturing key territories – but the economic impact of the invasion on Ukrainian state and citizen finances has been huge.
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And now the government has started to reduce salaries for non-frontline personnel, provoking concern.
From 1 March this year, a soldier’s basic monthly salary was raised to minimum 20,000 hryvnias (£450), including for those who are wounded or not at the front, but only frontline combatants will receive the 100,000 hryvnias bonus. Some other soldiers will be eligible for smaller bonuses.
The salary cuts come at a difficult time for Ukrainians. High inflation and rising prices for food, essential goods and electricity have produced a serious cost of living crisis in wartime. Thousands of businesses have shut down, moved or been destroyed. And the state is facing a massive budget deficit – more than £20bn in 2022 – due to the extraordinary cost of resisting the Russian invasion.
“We’re in the second year [of the war], many of our businesses are closed, taxes are not paid, we need to buy weapons, the number of the armed forces is huge, we need to equip them, clothe them, feed them, and so on,” said defence minister Oleksiy Reznikov, when asked to justify the salary cuts.
openDemocracy approached the Ukrainian government and the Ministry of Defence for comment, but did not receive a response.
Careful criticism
Although soldiers are wary of discussing the Ukrainian army’s internal problems, some are publicly criticising these measures – because it could directly affect Ukraine’s war effort.
Soldiers told openDemocracy that the new basic salary for personnel not serving at the front isn’t enough. This is especially true for those who have been wounded in combat.
Anatoliy*, 33, is a platoon combat medic who has served in the 81st brigade of the 90th battalion since last June. In early January, he was wounded just below the knee by shrapnel, while serving near the village of Bilohorivka, in Luhansk region.
The 581,000 hryvnias (£13,000) that Anatoliy received for his seven months of service on Ukraine's frontline has long been spent, he said, speaking from his home in Kyiv as he recovers from his injuries.
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https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/odr/ukraine-soldiers-wage-cuts-austerity-veterans/
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