WAR PROPAGANDA: The Ukrainian army is rewarding citizens who trick their friends into enrolling

In light of the severe shortage of servicemen, the government of Ukraine is offering up to 20 thousand hryvnya (tantamount to some 500 USD) for every man a citizen brings to military enlistment offices, the Russian government media writes. In fact, such methods are illegal on the territory of Ukraine, and Russia is the one that is forcefully recruiting servicemen to offset its losses.

NEWS: “Bring a friend by October 30 in exchange for a reward of 20 thousand hryvnya. Help your country now. Marketing experts with the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense have come up with a “genius” competition of betraying friends, to the benefit of the Armed Forces”, Podolyaka writes in an article shared by a Twitter account praising the actions of Russia in Ukraine, as well as by the “Military Observer” Telegram channel.

“The Ukrainian army is gradually and irreversibly turning into a financial pyramid, albeit an atypical one, built over the dead bodies of Ukrainian servicemen. Like lambs to the slaughter, sold for top dollar”, Glav.su writes.

NARRATIVE: The Ukrainian army is rewarding citizens who trick their friends into enrolling.

WHY THE NARRATIVE IS FALSE: In fact, there have been no such “offers” or “competitions” organized by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense. The Russian media, Telegram channels and Twitter quote the official pages of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, without including any hyperlinks. There is no such announcement on the official pages of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, the Armed Forces or other related departments, in the form of a Russian propaganda video. Therefore, the story about financial rewards offered to people who bring their friends to the military enlistment office is a fabrication of the Russian media, since the announcement is nowhere to be found on the official websites of the Defense Ministry or the army, while the Russian media presents no evidence to support its claim. The article again misquotes pages as a means of creating propaganda messages, which have been increasingly used by the Russian government media in recent months.

Drafting and mobilization procedures with martial law in effect are described in scarce detail by the Ukrainian law, and the provision of financial incentives or any other such interactions between enlistment offices and the population are illegal. There is no legal mechanism in place allowing authorities to offer rewards or payments in the context of the general mobilization prompted by the war. Article  15 of the 1993 Law on mobilization describes the mobilization process. While the mobilization decree is in effect, drafted people preserve their jobs and salaries prior to the mobilization. People eligible for mobilization, particularly men aged 18-60, who refuse or resist mobilization, will be fined and tried according to legal provisions in force.

The center for combating disinformation, set up at government level, wrote on its Telegram account that, through various propaganda messages, Russia is undermining the mobilization campaign in Ukraine, claiming this is a much broader psychological operation designed to misinform and manipulate the population, meant to discourage any form of resistance to this war.

In addition, Russia is in fact the object of harsh criticism for the methods it used to replenish its war-decimated troops – from recruiting inmates to the Wagner Group to forcefully conscripting thousands of people.

Veridica has debunked a number of false narratives about the mobilization process in Ukraine. In May, the Russian media wrote that Ukraine is mobilizing one million soldiers, repaying the West’s loans with human lives. More propaganda narratives soon followed, according to which the EU will deport to Ukraine refugee men in order to be enrolled in the Ukrainian army, whereas volunteers are joining pro-Russian battalions to defend southeastern regions against the Ukrainian army.