President Volodymyr Zelensky has revealed the details of military contracts for young people aged 18 to 24. They will provide the opportunity to earn one million hryvnias per year, receive free higher education, and receive a preferential housing loan.
He stated this at a joint meeting with media representatives, together with the President of the European Investment Bank Nadia Calvino.
According to Zelensky, a special contract offer for service in the Armed Forces of Ukraine will be presented in the coming days. The contract is called experimental and developed with reputable military personnel.
"Young people after a year in the war will be able to choose a higher education institution without any exams and study for free, the state will pay for everything. I would also draw attention to the special conditions for mortgages — 0%: all interest will be covered by the state," Zelensky added.
He had said earlier that the contracts would only last a year, and emphasized that this was not a mobilization of youth.
What preceded
The United States has repeatedly spoken out about the need to lower the military draft age in Ukraine. For example, former US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan believed that there was no weapon that could change the course of the war. Instead, Ukraine needed to “increase the number of troops on the front lines” to strengthen its position.
Former US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken also said that Ukraine must make "difficult decisions" regarding further mobilization.
Representatives of Donald Trumpʼs administration have also expressed a similar opinion. In particular, his national security adviser Mike Walz said that the Trump administration would like to see "real stabilization of the front" and would therefore request that the draft age be lowered from 25 to 18.
The Office of the President of Ukraine responded that such calls “make no sense” at a time when the previously announced aid is not arriving on time. President Volodymyr Zelensky emphasized at the presentation of the internal Resilience Plan that there will be no reduction in the mobilization age in Ukraine.
For more news and in-depth stories from Ukraine please follow us on X.