Kyiv hopes financial incentives and new terms of service will boost morale and slow desertionsNew fixed-term contracts for Ukrainian soldiers guarantee six months away from duty once completed. Photograph: Tyler Hicks/The New York Times
Fabrice Deperez in KyivThu Jun 25 2026 - 14:12 • 4 MIN READNearly two years ago, Serhiy Hnezdilov took a drastic step: he publicly announced he was absent without leave, risking prison to highlight Ukrainian soldiers’ exhaustion and call for clear terms of service.Now, after being charged, exonerated and returned to his unit, the 26-year-old has won part of what he sought. Rather than serving indefinitely until the end of the war, soldiers like him can sign contracts guaranteeing a temporary return to civilian life.“I’m far from happy, of course,” Hnezdilov, currently a drone operator in the 56th brigade, said on a call from eastern Ukraine. “But it is really good that we now have those terms of service.”With Ukraine regaining the upper hand in the drone war against Russia, its leadership is now attempting to tackle the military’s most enduring issue: a vicious circle of chronic manpower shortage and exhaustion.Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy recently said the contracts aimed to provide “clarity” for soldiers and that the reform as a whole could curb a rise in defections.A Ukrainian soldier looks for Russian drones as he prepares to fire on Russian positions near Kostiantynivka, Ukraine. Photograph: Iryna Rybakova/AP
