The Ukrainian army is ready to use methods to attract the younger generation and fight back against the Russian invasion, which has been underway since 2022. If the age of those being mobilized was lowered to 25 last year, then those aged 18-24 have been able to enlist since February in exchange for a bonus of more than 20,000 euros, a salary of up to 2,800 euros and a real estate loan.
Interesting financial gain for Mykola Lebedev, nicknamed Kolya. This young man with blue eyes and a dagger tattoo on his temple trains with his unit in a secret location. He would soon attack Russian positions in the east of the country.
While throwing his first grenade, his instructor made the sign of the cross, AFP said. Kolya removes the pin and throws. The explosion caused the basement to explode. “Your hands are shaking. Congratulations, you lost your virginity! », congratulated his boss. Kolya got up with difficulty, coughed and spat on the ground strewn with children’s clothes.
All around, ruins lined the charred hills. They were once a village, once occupied by Moscow, then carried away by bullets.
“I can’t sit still”
On February 26, 2022, two days after the invasion began, the nearby village of Kolya in southern Ukraine fell to Russian forces. “The torn body, the devastation, it was very difficult. » At the age of 15, his decision to join the army was made: “I couldn’t sit still and do nothing. »
However, under pressure from his parents, Kolya left Ukraine before he came of age. “Uncomfortable” in Poland, he returned, and despite his mother’s tears, he signed his contract last July.
Explosive drones make war ‘more difficult’
Kolya and other young volunteers are “Ukraine’s hope,” said a 25-year-old veteran coach. “But their war will be more difficult than ours. » The fault lies with the Russian explosive drones, which, for several months, have filled the front line, which has become a deadly zone within about fifteen kilometers.
Lurking in a house, Kolya and his two young friends practice escaping from them. Clad in a bulletproof vest, he clutched his gun to his body, oppressed by the shrill roar that echoed through the corridor. At the front, drone screams that traumatize the soldiers are used to drain the enemy’s energy.
When silence fell, the group rushed out to take cover in the forest. But with a hiss, the drone fell at their feet. “You’re dead,” the instructor spat. Why don’t you listen to heaven? » Responses: “We haven’t seen it”, “Damn drone, my face is badly broken…”
Kolya said he believed his “good leg” would not die. And if he loses it up front, “stick it to him, and move on!” » The war had taken one friend, seriously injured another, and burned his uncle more than “90%.”
Possibility of leaving the military after one year
Her father fought and her father-in-law, the sole survivor of his shell-damaged platoon, left to look after his three children. When Kolya told him about his military service, “he called me an idiot,” he said with a laugh.
If the number of 18-24 year olds who have been recruited is “secret” according to the authorities, supporting the idea of low success, then the benefits will be known. By signing his contract, Kolya received a bonus of 21,000 euros, a monthly salary of up to 2,800 euros, a real estate loan – benefits that do not exist for conscripts.
After twelve months, he will also be able to leave the military for one year. Those who are mobilized have no time limit. The difference in treatment within his unit was something that “everyone thought about, but no one talked about.”
