The billboard cannot be missed on the streets of Kharkiv, a large city in northeastern Ukraine. An elegant young woman, expertly styled hair and gun in hand, is huddled against a biker. The slogan? “I like the third assault.”
The polished aesthetic is that of a perfume advertisement, the tone that of a dating application, but the goal is to encourage passers-by to join this famous brigade, the army sorely lacking in recruits.
Private Volodymyr Degtyarov, wearing sunglasses and a blue jacket, takes care of communications for the competing Khartia brigade. Seeing these panels, he admits, makes him “a little jealous”.
In the army, no one “had done something so courageous” in terms of marketing, greets this 44-year-old man, on the terrace of a café. “This makes military service look sexy.” »
“Women will love you”
Ukraine adopted a new law on mobilization in May to enlist tens of thousands of men, but its army remains in deficit compared to Russian troops.
However, the country’s brigades can recruit their own soldiers, bypassing the traditional process with its criticized effectiveness.
Advertising posters, social networks that can accumulate hundreds of thousands of subscribers: the brigades promote themselves, competing with each other in the hope of attracting the best recruits and donations.
For Volodymyr Degtyarov, who ran a press relations agency before the invasion, all this gives rise to “very good and healthy competition”, with victory as the common goal.
The opportunity to stand out by showing the “personality” of his brigade, he believes, or, to speak of marketing, its “brand” image.
For example, the recent campaign of the Third Assault Brigade, battling the Russians and looking for energetic soldiers, “targets a young audience and tells them: ‘join us and women will love you’” », he analyzes.
Volodymyr Degtyarov’s brigade, for example, insists on attractive salaries in order to reach a “slightly older” and experienced audience.
Ivan, a soldier in charge of communications for another unit, the Aïdar battalion, explains that he is trying to show “modern” equipment. Old Soviet weapons are unlikely to inspire candidates’ dreams.
The 28-year-old soldier, met in the Donetsk region, nevertheless assures that he is “honest” and avoids playing too much on “emotions” to attract candidates.
This is precisely what many criticize the campaign of the Third Assault Brigade and its revolver model, which has provoked a debate in Ukraine. For its critics, it gives a false glamorous image of war.
“All means are good,” retorts Yuri, a fifty-year-old encountered by the AFP in the streets of kyiv.
If a passerby “sees a photo of a soldier with a pretty young woman, he will imagine himself in her place,” he continues.
“Show all”
The effectiveness of these campaigns is difficult to estimate. According to Volodymyr Degtyarov, this remains a necessary step.
“There are 150 brigades in Ukraine. If you go talk to people, they might be able to name 10, 15,” he says. Those who don’t communicate enough? “We don’t know them.”
The Khartia brigade in Volodymyr claims to be contacted by more potential candidates when it strengthens its advertisements, without providing precise figures.
But you have to deal with budgets that leave little room for fantasy and Volodymyr Degtyarov benefits from discounts for advertising locations in town, as well as from advertising agencies.
Ivan, from the Aidar battalion, limits himself to less expensive social networks. Its king platform is Facebook, with around 172,000 subscribers.
Telegram messaging is also widely used, particularly for its more flexible moderation policy. For example, brigades share images of Russian soldiers tracked and killed by drones.
On Telegram, “we can show everything”, weapons and violence included, notes Ivan, railing against the deletion of some of his videos by more observant platforms.
This world of social networks was a total discovery for the young man. Before the war, he was a space engineer.
“I had no experience,” he said, slipping apologetically that he “just” knew how to build rockets.
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