Fact Check: Is Ukraine Aid Being Spent on Hiring Sex Workers for Soldiers?

Misleading claims about Ukrainian spending have muddied the conversation about U.S. and global aid contributions to Kyiv, with many major public figures having shared inflated numbers exaggerating the cost throughout the war with Russia, which began on February 24, 2022.

The claims have ranged from overblown statements about the size of the U.S. funding pot to completely inaccurate allegations that billions have been sent "accidentally" to Kyiv.

Recently, a new claim about Ukrainian spending cropped up on social media, alleging that the Ukrainian government was "hiring prostitutes for injured soldiers."

The Claim

A post on X, formerly Twitter, by @realCEOofANTIFA, posted on August 16, 2023, and viewed 166,900 times, claimed that Ukraine is using U.S. aid to hire sex workers for troops.

The post read: "Can't believe this is a real f****** story... Biden is provided BILLIONS to Ukraine, some of which Kiev spent on hiring prostitutes for their injured soldiers. Meanwhile, the best we can do for Maui is a one time payment of $700... f****** unbelievable Sex for Ukraine, nothing for Maui #Maui #Lahaina #Ukraine"

The Facts

This most recent claim, suggesting that aid or other spending is being used to pay for sex workers, is similarly inaccurate.

At (a very generous) best, it is a woeful misreading of an article published by the BBC, a small screengrab of which is included in the X post.

The article, published August 12, 2023, is about a rehabilitative project called ReSex that provides support for soldiers following physical and mental trauma suffered in war.

Formed by one of the founders of Veteran Hub, a support service for Ukrainian troops, the charity aims to help soldiers approach intimacy and sex following conflict, and provides thousands of booklets for both men and women to medical centers, veterans and families,

Kateryna Skorokhod, ReSex's project manager, told the BBC: "It's about how you can accept yourself, how you can love yourself, and how you can build a relationship with yourself and your partner after these injuries—with sex and with intimacy in relationships."

The article is not about sex work nor does it mention sex workers.

Further, Veteran Hub (which runs ReSex) does not state that it is funded by the Ukrainian government. Although a 2019 program by one of its principal funders, the Victor Pinchuk Foundation, mentions that Veteran Hub has been able to expand under the U.S. government program "Reintegration of Ukrainian Veterans," the exact funding arrangements for ReSex are not stated in the BBC article.

The ReSex website states it was created with the support of the East Europe Foundation, Capable and Strong, Veteran Hub, and the Swiss Confederation.

Newsweek has emailed a representative of ReSex for comment.

There is no other evidence that the Ukrainian government is spending its own money or has reassigned aid funding to employ sex workers.

The account which posted the claim, @realCEOofANTIFA, is rated as "Disruptive" by BotSentinel, an analytics tool that assesses "inauthentic" and problematic accounts on X. "Disruptive" refers to accounts that "often engage in malicious tweet activity."

"Disruptive accounts periodically share misinformation and can frequently spam hashtags," it adds. "Inauthentic accounts and toxic trolls regularly receive a disruptive rating, so we recommend you exhibit caution when interacting with disruptive accounts."

The Ruling

False.

Kyiv is not spending money hiring sex workers for injured soldiers, as the post on X claims.

The post quotes part of a BBC article about a rehabilitative service for Ukrainian soldiers run by a support organization called Veteran Hub. It does not employ sex workers and there is no evidence that funding provided to Ukraine or Ukrainian government spending has been used in this way.

FACT CHECK BY Newsweek's Fact Check team