February 11, 2025

Frontline Sex, Moscow Prices


Frontline Sex, Moscow Prices
Sign in Uzbek offering sexual services in St. Petersburg. Messir, Wikimedia Commons.

Women from Moscow and other Russian cities have flocked to the occupied territories of Ukraine to satisfy the demand for sex workers among soldiers in Russia's ongoing War on Ukraine. Independent outlet Verstka investigated how the sex workers earn an average of R500,000 to R1.5 million ($5,000 to $15,500) a month at the frontlines.

Maryana, a 25-year-old sex worker from Russia, traded Moscow, Sochi, and Krasnaya Polyana for the trenches in Ukraine. A pimp she knew was mobilized to fight in the fall of 2022. Then she received a call from him with an offer: "There are a lot of young men here, the majority of girls over 18 have left, and the soldiers need female attention and care." Maryana and four other girls got on a bus in Lugansk to "visit their husbands" and never looked back.

Working in trenches, saunas, and checkpoints, sex workers make R15,000 ($150) an hour for various sexual acts. Verstka estimates that, by the fall of 2024, 300 women were working in the occupied territories. A hundred women are believed to be working in brothels, while the rest are said to be operating individually.

Maryana said she was initially scared to work in a war zone. But when she saw she was making over a million rubles a month, she thought, "Maybe they are not bombing like that here." Most sex workers rotate their "offices" between frontline sites like Mariupol, Lugansk, Donetsk, Berdyansk and Melitopol.

Clients usually look for women on Telegram through "dating groups" such as "Dating/DNR Chat" and "Dating Donetsk DNR Girls." Channels also publicize ads from sex workers and agencies. Some women use their own channels to offer services and publish reviews. Word of mouth is also a major source of business. An unnamed Russian soldier told Verstka that older married men in the army usually have "a dozen ready and verified numbers of local nymphets." Clients told Verstka they often pay in cash, as the sex services cost nearly as much as transfer limits.

Ninety-nine percent of "Johns" in the occupied territories are Russian soldiers. Civilians there can't afford the "Moscow-level" prices the workers charge: one night with a sex worker usually costs between R70,000 to R120,000 ($722 to $1200). "Extras," such as stripteases, massages, use of sex toys, and kisses range from R2,000 to R10,000 ($72 to $103).

But military men don't just hire women for sex work. Often, men will pay just to talk to the women, especially about their guilt. Some clients feel guilty about cheating. Maryana told Verstka that "almost all the stories are about men they didn't save, but could have, didn't bandage them, didn't crawl up to them." Many regret being in the war: "90 percent of my clients have feelings of regret. They all went for the money and didn't think that they would have to do the dirty work," Maryana said.

And violence doesn't stay in the frontlines. Karina, another sex worker who spoke to Verstka, said most men who request her services are injured and often become dependent on alcohol and drugs. These make the soldiers act violently with the women, because they think they are being attacked. Karina said she has many friends who have been beaten and raped on the job. Women often think they are meeting with one man and end up finding five when they arrive. Karina's friends told her, "He can be good at first, and say 'You are my sweet girl,' try to kiss you, and half an hour later you are passed out and don't understand what is happening."

Pimps have warned sex workers not to discuss politics with clients. Nadezhda, another sex worker, has felt the barrel of a gun against her head after making political arguments. Another woman told Verstka how her friend was shaved bald because of her "long tongue." There are also rumors of a woman who was thrown off the fifth floor of a building. Another was allegedly buried alive. Rumors of a dungeon with female prisoners being drugged and raped is enough to keep sex workers on their toes.

You Might Also Like

Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of our Books

Survival Russian
February 01, 2009

Survival Russian

Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.

A Taste of Chekhov
December 24, 2022

A Taste of Chekhov

This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.

A Taste of Russia
November 01, 2012

A Taste of Russia

The definitive modern cookbook on Russian cuisine has been totally updated and redesigned in a 30th Anniversary Edition. Layering superbly researched recipes with informative essays on the dishes' rich historical and cultural context, A Taste of Russia includes over 200 recipes on everything from borshch to blini, from Salmon Coulibiac to Beef Stew with Rum, from Marinated Mushrooms to Walnut-honey Filled Pies. A Taste of Russia shows off the best that Russian cooking has to offer. Full of great quotes from Russian literature about Russian food and designed in a convenient wide format that stays open during use.

Life Stories
September 01, 2009

Life Stories

The Life Stories collection is a nice introduction to contemporary Russian fiction: many of the 19 authors featured here have won major Russian literary prizes and/or become bestsellers. These are life-affirming stories of love, family, hope, rebirth, mystery and imagination, masterfully translated by some of the best Russian-English translators working today. The selections reassert the power of Russian literature to affect readers of all cultures in profound and lasting ways. Best of all, 100% of the profits from the sale of this book are going to benefit Russian hospice—not-for-profit care for fellow human beings who are nearing the end of their own life stories.

Frogs Who Begged...
November 01, 2010

Frogs Who Begged...

The fables of Ivan Krylov are rich fonts of Russian cultural wisdom and experience – reading and understanding them is vital to grasping the Russian worldview. This new edition of 62 of Krylov’s tales presents them side-by-side in English and Russian. The wonderfully lyrical translations by Lydia Razran Stone are accompanied by original, whimsical color illustrations by Katya Korobkina.

The Samovar Murders
November 01, 2019

The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.

Murder at the Dacha
July 01, 2013

Murder at the Dacha

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin has a problem. Several, actually. Not the least of them is the fact that a powerful Soviet boss has been murdered, and Matyushkin's surly commander has given him an unreasonably short time frame to close the case.

How Russia Got That Way
September 20, 2025

How Russia Got That Way

A fast-paced crash course in Russian history, from Norsemen to Navalny, that explores the ways the Kremlin uses history to achieve its ends.

The Latchkey Murders
July 01, 2015

The Latchkey Murders

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...

Marooned in Moscow
May 01, 2011

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.

The Little Humpbacked Horse
November 03, 2014

The Little Humpbacked Horse

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955