Ukrainian military units are competing against each other by carrying out deadly drone attacks to earn points that can be used to buy more weapons.
The video game-like rewards system is proving very popular, Ukraine’s first deputy prime minister said, with hundreds of units taking part. Launched a year ago, it is now reportedly expanding to reconnaissance, artillery and logistics operations.
"It has become really popular among the units," Mykhailo Fedorov told The Guardian. "All the defense forces know about it and there is a competition for points to get these drones, electronic warfare systems and other things to help them in the war."
"The more infantrymen you kill, the more drones you get to kill more infantrymen. It becomes a kind of self-reinforcing cycle."
Soldiers who carry out successful strikes earn points that can be exchanged for buying more weapons in an online store called Brave1, including drones and autonomous vehicles.
At least 400 drones use the "Bonus System", which killed or wounded 18,000 Russian soldiers in September, the newspaper reported. This is double the amount awarded last October, after the Ukrainian government doubled the rewards for killing Russian infantry from six to 12 points.
Drones and autonomous vehicles can be purchased from the online marketplace with "e-points", which are awarded to units for confirmed destruction of enemy equipment or personnel.
The Kolibri 7 drone was the cheapest drone that could be purchased with points, costing 13,410 Ukrainian hryvnias (UAH), the equivalent of about 280 euros. The most expensive, the MACUVA BpAK, was on sale for 41,506,466 Ukrainian hryvnias, or approximately 865,000 euros.
Fedorov said the decision to implement a points system for Russian casualties was one of many ways Ukraine was trying to be "more efficient".
"We have been fighting a war for four years in a row, and it is difficult", he said. "We are simply looking for ways to be more efficient. We think of it as part of our daily work. There is almost no emotional reflection here. It feels like just a technicality."
"Because if you don't stop the enemy, they will kill your soldiers, and after the soldiers are dead, they will come to some city and take it over, destroy it and kill civilians."
He warned that Russia appears to be developing its own version of the same system, citing Ukrainian intelligence sources.