Zheleznyak proposed raising the salaries of members of parliament instead of those of military personnel

During the consideration of an amendment to increase the pay of Ukrainian military personnel, People’s Deputy Yaroslav Zheleznyak stated that it was necessary to raise the salaries of members of parliament. 

“Raising salaries for Members of Parliament is the position of the entire parliament,” said Yaroslav Zheleznyak.

The remark was made during the consideration of an amendment concerning an increase in the pay of Ukrainian military personnel.

Given the context of the discussion, Yaroslav Zheleznyak was supposed to be speaking about increasing payments to military personnel, but instead mentioned the salaries of Members of Parliament.

The relevant excerpt from his speech was shared on social media. Due to an unfortunate choice of words, the lawmaker’s remarks sounded as if he were advocating for higher pay for members of parliament rather than for military personnel.

However, this was specifically a slip of the tongue during a discussion of an amendment regarding the pay of Ukrainian military personnel.

A video of the slip of the tongue has been circulating online.

As a reminder, members of parliament did not support the proposal to cap the monthly salaries of civil servants at 80,000 UAH. The Verkhovna Rada rejected Amendment No. 1003 to the 2027 state budget bill during a session on Wednesday, October 28.

The Verkhovna Rada approved the 2027 state budget bill in its first reading.

Earlier, the Verkhovna Rada’s Budget Committee supported a pay raise for military personnel.

The Rada’s Budget Committee also supported a bill on the military levy.