Moscow-Kyiv crisis: Zelensky approves 30% salary hike for Ukraine's military servicemen

Amid rising fears of a Russian invasion, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has signed a bill for raising the salaries of military servicemen. According to the Kyiv Post, Zelensky signed the decree on Monday and now the new monies would start to be paid from March 1. This means that the salary of the Ukrainian Armed Forces will increase by 30% and the salaries of the National Guard and the State Border Guard Service will surge by 20%. 

As per the media outlet, Servant of the People party leader David Arahamiya said that UAH 30 billion will be allocated for the boosted salaries. He informed that the money will be found by a redistribution of funds in the current government budget. Arahamiya explained that part of the money from the infrastructure, from the roads, is taken away, and part of it, the party submitted a bill from the Cabinet to increase the rent for gas. The Servant of the People leader stated that the increase would mean that the lowest military salary would be at least UHD 14 ($490). 

David Arahamiya said that by the end of June 2022, the government together with the parliament must develop a bill “aimed at improving the system of monetary security of servicemen, taking into account the best practices of leading foreign countries”. 

Ukraine-Russia border crisis 

Meanwhile, the increase in salaries of military servicemen comes amid tension between Russia and the West. It is to mention that Ukraine is facing an increasingly difficult situation in trying to prepare for the worst while living with uncertainty as to what Moscow will decide to do. This uncertainty has only been heightened by a major gap between US' warnings about a Russian invasion of Ukraine and Kyiv’s determination not to cause panic in the face of aggression from its neighbouring country. 

Notably, the United States has repeatedly warned that a Russian attack could be imminent, which has led countries including Canada, Germany, and the UK to order its diplomats stationed in Kyiv to depart the city. However, even with rising fears of a Russian invasion, the Ukrainian President has engaged in diplomacy even as no clear path to settlement is in focus. Zelensky has criticised the evacuation of diplomats as needlessly alarmist and remained defiant, playing down the threat to his country. The Ukrainian leader said that the “best friend for enemies is panic in our country”. 

(Image: AP)