Ukraine to legalise porn to raise $25mn for war against Russia. Yes, you read that right

Ukraine is considering legalising pornography as authorities look to boost tax revenues and generate funds for the country’s war effort against Russia.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday that the production, possession and distribution of pornography are currently illegal in Ukraine and can carry a prison sentence of up to seven years. Despite the ban, the adult entertainment industry has expanded significantly in recent years, with much of it operating in an environment allegedly marked by police corruption, according to the report.

Ukrainian authorities have also begun demanding taxes from adult content creators. However, creators who pay those taxes could effectively be admitting to taking part in an activity that remains illegal under the country’s pornography laws.

Ukrainian lawmaker Yaroslav Zhelezniak is backing legislation that would legalise pornography and bring the industry into the formal economy. He estimates the move could generate up to $25 million in tax revenue for Ukraine, which could then support the war effort.

According to Zhelezniak, the additional revenue could be enough to fund as many as 30,000 drones.

“These women either don’t pay taxes and face criminal charges for that, or they pay taxes and get charged with violating pornography laws,” Zhelezniak, who chairs the finance committee in Ukraine’s Parliament, told the WSJ. “It’s a tragicomic situation.”

Adult industry expands despite ban

Before Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, authorities largely turned a blind eye to the country’s adult entertainment industry, the WSJ reported.

However, the report said corruption has remained a major issue. Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office has alleged that police in three regions received bribes of up to $20,000.

The scale of the industry has also grown sharply since the invasion. Fenix International, the parent company of OnlyFans, found that 7,900 Ukrainians earned more than $131 million through the platform in 2023 alone, according to the WSJ.

Authorities subsequently began sending letters to content creators who had declared their earnings for tax purposes, with some later facing allegations of tax evasion and illegal production of adult content.

OnlyFans creators face criminal cases

One such creator, Svitlana Dvornikova, told the WSJ that police raided her home while she was preparing her daughter for school. Officers seized $20,000 in cash, her laptop and hard drives, she said.

“They had a list of webcam models, and knew all their addresses,” Dvornikova told the newspaper.

She alleged that officers offered her the option of paying a bribe to prevent the matter from progressing, but she refused.

Another woman told the WSJ that police carried out a similar search at her apartment. She was later summoned for a court hearing but did not attend, saying she feared she would be forced to pay a bribe.

Several Ukrainian OnlyFans creators, including Dvornikova, have since left the country or moved temporarily to other parts of Europe.

“This is a victimless crime,” Lesia Mykhalenko, a tax lawyer who has represented more than 100 OnlyFans models, told the WSJ. “It unnecessarily burdens the legal system at a time when we should be focused on defending the country.”

Dvornikova later filed a petition after a case was brought against her. The petition was subsequently published on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s website.

In it, she described herself as a “conscientious taxpayer” and argued that the government should not treat her as a criminal after she had paid nearly $900,000 in taxes. She claimed the amount was equivalent to “hundreds of Russians killed on the front line”.