Russian soldiers can now store their sperm in cryobanks free of charge, according to a Russian lawyer. The comments were recently made public as 300,000 soldiers have been mobilized to fight in Ukraine.

Igor Trunov, chairman of the Russian Union of Lawyers, said the country's health ministry responded to his appeal for financial assistance for soldiers who wish to freeze their sperm before going to the front lines, Russian state news agency TASS reported.

The ministry "determined the possibility of financial support from the federal budget for free conservation and storage of germ cells (spermatozoa) for citizens mobilized to participate in the special military operation for 2022-2024," Trunov said.

Russian Soldier In Snow
Representation. Russia is recruiting reinforcements from the country's Far East region as "they are better adapted to life in low temperature conditions and will be more effective in winter," according to Ukrainian intelligence. Eugene_69/Pixabay

There have been increased requests by soldiers to freeze their sperm after Russia's Moskovskij Komsomolets newspaper reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a partial mobilization of 300,000 soldiers to support the war in Ukraine.

After Putin's announcement, Fontanka reported that St. Petersburg had a surge in men visiting fertility and IVF clinics to freeze their sperm and request documents that allow their wives to use it. Fontanka also reported that the clinics have rarely seen an instance of Russians freezing their biomaterial "just in case" something went wrong and soldiers did not return home.

"In the past, people with chronic illnesses were the main customers. Now it's healthy men freezing their sperm, in case something happens to them so that they can have the guaranteed possibility to become fathers," BBC journalist Steve Rosenberg posted on Twitter about the move.

Russia Ukraine Vladimir putin