New Delhi: As Ukraine agreed to peace talks with Russia, the war-torn country has announced a significant pay rise to its military personnel in an bid to lift their spirit and to show them that the "country is grateful".
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky announced that military personnel in the country will be paid $3,400 (around Rs 2.5 lakh) per month, a significant raise considering the minimum salary used to be as little as $340. He said that the raise is to show the soldiers “that the country is grateful to them.”
While hundreds of thousands of refugees are leaving Ukraine amid Russia's attack on the country, some Ukrainian men and women are returning home from across Europe to help defend their homeland. Poland's Border Guard said Sunday that some 22,000 people have crossed into Ukraine since Thursday. Speaking to media, one of the Ukrainians said, "We have to defend our homeland. Who else if not us."
READ: Who else if not us? Ukrainians return from abroad to fight Russian invasion
