Excavator driver who escaped from NATO camp told about low payments in the AFU

A mobilized man who escaped from a NATO training camp in the UK on 20 February said that while working as an excavator driver at a trucking company, he received twice as much as in his first months in the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU).

"For my first month in the AFU, I received 20 thousand hryvnias ($480).... This is the very minimum. It's nothing for Kiev. You only pay 10-15 thousand ($240-360) for an apartment. This is only for housing, and there are 1.5-2 thousand hryvnias ($36-48) for services. This is not even a living wage," he told RIA Novosti.

The escapee noted that when he worked at a trucking company, where he operated heavy construction equipment, he received about 40,000 hryvnias ($960), and when he worked as a trucker his salary often exceeded 80,000 hryvnias.

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On February 13, AFU prisoner Valentyn Makarenko admitted that he had paid $2,000 to a military financier to get into the border troops rather than be on the front line. However, despite the paid place, he ended up in Kursk Region, where he surrendered.