(NewsNation) — Ukrainian Parliament signed a law offering rewards of up to $1 million for soldiers who turn over Russian military equipment in working condition.
Russian soldiers can get the equivalent of $10,000 for a military helicopter, and if they turn over a fighter jet or a warship, they would be paid $1 million.
Ukraine is also offering citizenship, or help traveling to another country, to Russian soldiers who want to defect to Ukrainian forces.
Gil Barndollar, a senior fellow at Defense Priorities who served as an infantry officer in the U.S. Marines, called it a “savvy move” on Ukraine’s part.
“Obviously, there’s a possibility they will have some people actually do this,” Barndollar said. “I think it also plays well, to both an audience at home and abroad. It’s unquestionably kind of a piece of information warfare and psychological warfare, as much as it is an attempt to restock their fleet of combat vehicles.”
Russia has fallen short when it comes to information warfare, Barndollar said, especially compared to Ukraine, which has excelled at it.
“It’s clear that the Russians have had serious morale problems, have had a lot of troops actually surrender, had defections,” Barndollar said.
This can be seen in the huge number of military vehicles Russia has abandoned, Barndollar said.
“A tank gets stuck in thick mud and they just walk away from it, which is a pretty staggering commentary on both discipline and morale,” he added.
All the same, Russians face the risk of retaliation for taking up Ukraine’s offer.
“I don’t think you’re doing this unless you are absolutely desperate or you have no real family and no one that would be targeted back home,” Barndollar said.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began in February.
On Thursday, Ukraine officials urged nations to send “weapons, weapons, weapons” after Russian forces withdrew from the outskirts of Kyiv to regroup for an offensive in the country’s east.