Low salaries, arbitrary behavior of commanders: lawyer explains what demotivates soldiers from serving
29 January 14:50
Low pay, lack of real social guarantees for families, sharp contrast with the incomes of law enforcement officers and judges in the rear, as well as arbitrariness on the part of commanders — all this demotivates people from serving and fighting. In such conditions, soldiers do not feel that the state values their lives and service. This was stated by lawyer Oleksandr Protas in an interview with the YouTube channel "Komersant Ukrainian".
According to the lawyer, the motivation of a soldier begins with the basics — the understanding that his family will be protected and provided for.
“How can you motivate a person to leave everything behind for 20,000 hryvnia? So that your family doesn’t understand how they will feed themselves, what your children will wear?” Protas noted.
He emphasizes that in civilian life, even a low-skilled worker in large cities can earn about 40,000 hryvnia per month, while the basic monetary allowance for a soldier is often half that amount.
“The salary of an ordinary, low-skilled specialist is 1,800-2,000 hryvnia per day. A person will earn 40,000 hryvnia in 20 working days,” the lawyer explained.
According to Protas, the situation is further exacerbated by a sense of injustice when military personnel see the significantly higher incomes of prosecutors, judges, and law enforcement officers, who do not risk their lives and have reservations.
“We have the money to pay high salaries to judges and prosecutors and to increase the salaries of deputies. But when it comes to raising the salaries of military personnel… We are still thinking about how to motivate them,” he said.
According to him, this system creates a vicious circle: people do not trust the state, they leave for the private security sector, the budget loses taxes, and the army loses fighters.
Protas cites the arbitrariness of individual commanders as another factor in demotivation.
“Commanders take bribes, drink, are often high, on drugs. So I’ll give you a bonus, so I won’t. If anything, I’ll send you to storm the landing…” he said.
Protas believes that the salary of a soldier who risks his life every day should be at least 200,000 hryvnia per month.
“A person who risks his life cannot earn less than 200,000. And it should be a salary, not some measly extra payments,” he concluded.
