Russian troops who have been conscripted to fight in Ukraine may soon be entitled to an unusual health benefit: free sperm banks. In September, when Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a “partial” mobilization of 300,000 reserve troops to join the war in Ukraine, he called up a range of male adults with military background or training. This provoked extraordinary levels of resistance from civilians who had seen the war drag on for over six months by that point, with huge protests breaking out, leading to over 2,000 people arrested, while one-way tickets for flights out of Russia sold out within days of the news. With the war just a few months shy of one year old, the Kremlin has turned to offering more and more incentives to reservists.
The Kremlin has gone down a number of routes to get more Russians to comply with the mobilization. Benefits include salaries that are two to three times the national average, freezing loan repayment schedules, and even subsidies in cash and food handed out to families of conscripted soldiers. Now added to the list is government subsidies for sperm storage and infertility treatments for mobilized troops.
