Von „Massagesalons“ bis zur Intimität an vorderster Front. Wie der Markt für Intimdienstleistungen in Städten an vorderster Front funktioniert

**Translation:**

**1/3**

*This article is a text version of* [*a video made by Ukrainian witness*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_ii2c-KeIE)

“Massage parlor.” For many who are familiar with frontline realities, this phrase prompts a knowing smirk. Because it is not about massage. And almost all the soldiers I spoke to on this topic have “heard about the ‘massage girls,’ but of course haven’t used them.” Some, however, did agree to speak frankly.

What does a man see when he enters a “massage parlor”? An unclothed girl appears in the room, covered by a light robe. Under it—nothing, no underwear at all. Everything begins with light touches.

The massage, performed in the style of “rails-rails, sleepers-sleepers,” lasts 50 minutes. The remaining 10 are devoted to sexual gratification. This is the “basic program.” It can be expanded for additional money. The girl masturbates the client but does not enter into intimate contact with him in the classic, well-established understanding of paid services.

“This is the policy of both the salon and, to some extent, the girls go there mentally prepared that it’s not sex,” explains a serviceman with relevant experience, describing one of the most popular intimate services in frontline areas.

*“Then why do men go there if it’s not sex?” I* ask him.

In this piece, we will find the answer to that question. But not only that.

I set out to generally study the market for sexual services in Ukraine. The focus is on how the war has changed it. Deliberately avoiding the moral dimension of this “business”—without labeling it as “good” or “bad”—I simply examine and describe it as a phenomenon.

Since the start of the full-scale war, many young men have found themselves far from home in stressful conditions. Quite a few of them now have financial means they did not have before. Those willing to meet the demand followed the military and their money.

So: “massage parlors” in frontline cities, intimate services in rented apartments, and even sex at the front lines. How much do soldiers pay for all this? Why do they seek it out at all? What do they share with random companions? What about marital infidelity? And what do the women involved in this taboo occupation themselves say?

This is a non-exhaustive list of questions I put to my interlocutors—a serviceman, Volodymyr, and two women, Oksana and Marina. All have experience with paid sexual services. Their names, of course, have been changed for privacy reasons.

What follows are their stories about paid emotions, escaping the traumas of war, sex for money that grows into romantic relationships, manifestations of violence, friendship, and bright memories after death.

# How the war has changed the sex services market

**Volodymyr is a divorced 43-year-old serviceman who fought in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Luhansk, and Donetsk regions. He took part in the battles for Bilohorivka and the defense of Bakhmut. He left the military due to multiple injuries: abdominal, pelvic, and leg wounds.**

– In my subjective observation, the war has changed the market for sexual services. First, there are a lot of soldiers separated from their families, from their women. Basically, young healthy men, sexually active, are limited. In places like Druzhkivka or Kramatorsk, where the concentration of soldiers is high, it can even be hard to approach any girls. So there’s more demand for such services.

Second, again speaking about soldiers, it’s no secret that the state provides decent financial support. One must understand that sexual services are not cheap, and using them may be outside the budget for some people. But soldiers belong to the category with no material problems.

From a business perspective, you have to go where the clients are, and the clients are in frontline towns. The main hubs are Kramatorsk, of course, and also Kharkiv.

Today, most people have probably seen videos or memes on Instagram or TikTok about a relatively new format of services—so-called “massage parlors.” In the standard, broader sense, there are no sexual services there. There is no penetration. The girls disguise themselves as massage parlors and satisfy men purely with their hands, sometimes with other parts of the body—non-orally, non-vaginally.

**– How much does it cost?**

– The basic program is 1,500 hryvnias. Add-ons cost on average 1,000 hryvnias per hour. These include erotic dances, foot fetishes, body kisses excluding intimate or peri-intimate areas. There can even be an explicit peep show (the viewer watches an erotic performance through a gap or booth, without physical contact). There’s a list of options to choose from.

**– I understand there are entire networks?**

– If we’re talking about “massage parlors,” I tell you—100%. Same name, same design, inside and out, same pricing policy.

**– In frontline zones, is there a security factor, shelter? Did they address that?**

– All the soldiers who have been on positions, sitting in Kramatorsk for example, consider it not a risk zone.

**– Not even an air raid warning stops a massage session once it’s time?**

– One hundred percent.

**– And traditional sex as a service—is it still common, or only these parlors?**

– You can divide it into two main types. First, something like a brothel: the client comes, an administrator comes out, the girls come out, and you choose who you like. The opposite format is when a girl works independently, rents an apartment, posts her own ad, and works individually.

**Oksana is a 36-year-old woman from central Ukraine with ten years of experience in paid intimate work. She closed this chapter of her life after meeting her fiancé among her clients—also a serviceman.**

– Before the war, I was going through a dark period. I worked for myself. And corrupt police caught me—“cops.” They offered me to work for them. Either you work with them, or you don’t work at all. They would plant drugs on you or abuse you, beat you. I was already in a very exhausted mental state.

You can’t go anywhere. Constantly, every day, violence is committed against you. There are people who just enjoy abusing others. They can do anything they want. They can tie you up. Tie you to a tree. Lock you in an apartment and not let you out. Once they didn’t let me out for two days. I already wanted to jump from the third floor. And then, it turns out, the war started. I know that one of them was killed. In the war. And where the other one is, I don’t know. After that, they stopped coming to me.

Then I started working for myself again. Not on those sites, not prostitution… where girls are on call. I didn’t go there at all. I met men on regular dating sites. They would suggest meeting. And that’s when a white streak in my life began. I met so many military men like that…

I have this friend—he even introduced me to his parents. When he comes to visit me, we immediately go to cafés, restaurants, relax. He gives me money right away—at least 10,000. So there are no problems. I met people like that until I met my boyfriend. After I met him, I stopped doing this.

**Marina is a 47-year-old woman from Kramatorsk who entered the sexual services sphere back in 2014, with the start of the war in Donbas. Her son is now fighting; he does not know about the occupation his mother is involved in.**

**– And in Kramatorsk, do only local girls work?**

– There are many newcomers, very many—from Dnipro, and there’s a girl from Vinnytsia. I ask the girls: what, is it not like that there? She says: no, it’s precisely in Kramatorsk that there are very many military men, and somehow everything is well established here. Many, as they say, even bought apartments for themselves—literally, in a month or two, the girls work like that.

**– You mean soldiers, because they have money, right?**

– Yes. They say: “And what am I supposed to spend it on? I’m sitting here, in a trench, I have a hundred thousand on my card, what should I do with it?” And they start going crazy—so that’s how it is.

Too bad there is no English version of that article.