UK distributes free cigarettes to Ukrainian soldiers

An agreement between the United Kingdom and Ukraine would allow duty-free imports of tobacco, offered to Ukrainian soldiers who come to train across the Channel, according to an article published in the Telegraph. Justified by the authorities by a concern to maintain the morale of the Ukrainian troops, such a decision nevertheless opposes elementary principles of public health, and seems paradoxical in view of the participation of cigarette manufacturers in the Russian war effort.

The agreement was concluded between Ben Wallace, the United Kingdom's Defense Secretary, and Oleksii Reznikov, his Ukrainian counterpart, shortly after the arrival of the first Ukrainian soldiers, who came to train across the Channel. This agreement, only revealed during discussions around the bill banning the sale of tobacco products to people born from 2009, reportedly follows complaints from Ukrainian soldiers that the price of cigarettes in the United Kingdom is too high. Indeed, the price of a pack of cigarettes costs almost two euros in Ukraine, compared to more than 18 euros in the United Kingdom.[1].

Distribution of tobacco, electronic cigarettes and nicotine sachets to Ukrainian soldiers

The cigarettes were thus offered by one of the international tobacco companies, which remained anonymous, and distributed to the soldiers as part of their ration. Other nicotine products have also been distributed, such as nicotine sachets or electronic cigarettes. According to available sources, all of these products were only offered to smoking soldiers, and accompanied by information on the risks associated with tobacco consumption. As the Telegraph points out, a source close to the matter reportedly said that smoking "poses a weaker threat to these brave soldiers than fighting Putin's illegal invasion of their country." However, such a statement underestimates the health consequences of smoking, which causes the premature death of one in two consumers. In reality, facilitating access to smoking considerably increases the dangers for individuals already highly exposed to immediate vital risk.

Similar operations already observed towards Ukrainian soldiers

In 2022, a Ukrainian MP revealed that Philip Morris had donated 500,000 packs of cigarettes to the Ukrainian army, in a country where smoking causes the death of nearly 130,000 people per year. The aim of such communication operations is to indirectly advertise the manufacturer, but also to disseminate and normalize the tobacco epidemic. These distributions of cigarettes are also opposed to proactive policies of Ukraine in terms of the fight against smoking, and in particular in terms of tax policy. Thus, since Ukraine's ratification of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, the public authorities have multiplied by 27 the price of a packet of tobacco in ten years, multiplying at the same time tax revenue linked to tobacco. tobacco by 12, while reducing the number of smokers by 40%. This tax policy was renewed from 2017, introducing 20% increases in the price of the package until 2025.

Tobacco companies finance the war effort against Ukraine

In parallel with these communication operations on the part of manufacturers, tobacco multinationals have particularly sustained economic activity in Russia since the invasion of Ukraine. According to a report published in 2022, manufacturers Philip Morris International (PMI) and Japan Tobacco International (JTI) were at that date the first two companies among the twenty multinationals generating the most profit in Russia. In 2022, the two companies respectively earned $7.9 and $7.4 billion in this country. For the authors of the report, the decision to maintain their activity in Russia is explained by the high prevalence of smoking observed in the country, and contributes to financing the war effort against Ukraine.

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[1] Telegraph, MoD hands out free cigarettes to Ukrainian troops, 04/21/2024, (accessed 04/23/2024)