Ukraine looks to entice younger men into the military by offering special rewards

Ukraine’s Defense Ministry is offering new financial and other benefits it hopes will attract men in the 18 to 24 age group to military service. The ministry made the annoucement late Tuesday. Ukraine's short-handed armed forces toil on the front line against Russia’s bigger army in the almost three-year war. Men in that age group are exempt from the country’s draft which covers men between 25 and 60 years of age. Ukraine lowered the conscription age from 27 to 25 last spring. But that has failed to replenish its ranks or replace battlefield losses. Some eligible age men have also moved abroad while desertions have undermined the Ukrainian army.