Ukraine is weighing a bill to legalise pornography, with lawmakers saying it could raise $25 million in tax revenue to help fund the war against Russia.3 min readSep 27, 2026 08:12 PM IST First published on: Sep 27, 2026 at 08:12 PM IST ShareWhatsapptwitterFacebookFirefighters work at a residential building after a Russian drone attack struck in the Holosiivskyi district of Kyiv. (AP Photo)Ukraine, which is in the middle of a war with Russia, has a new fix for its ailing coffers as the conflict lingers for over four years — legalising pornography.The plan may seem to be a hyperbole, but the data shows otherwise. The legalization of porn is expected to generate around $25 million in tax revenue, enough for purchasing 30,000 drones for the war effort, a report in The Washington Post said.According to the Post, Ukraine’s porn industry is believed to have generated $131 million for 8,000 OnlyFans creators in the country in 2023. Meanwhile, the daily cost of the war for Kyiv was $190 million this year, according to Reuters.Ukraine’s porn industry has run for years without any legal status, out of sight of the law. Police mostly left it alone, while some officers used the grey area to demand bribes from people working in it.Now, with the country short of money for the war and facing a budget gap of $27 billion, lawmakers are moving to make pornography legal, a step that would change how the country is seen after years of being linked to the exploitation of women in the sex trade, the report said.Story continues below this adWhy the bill is being pushedThe push for legal status began after tax officials started chasing adult-content creators for unpaid tax. This put creators in a difficult spot: paying tax meant admitting they were breaking the law by making pornographic content in the first place, according to the report.One of the people leading the push is Yaroslav Zhelezniak, who chairs the finance committee in Ukraine’s parliament. He argues that legal pornography would bring in around $25 million a year in tax, enough, he says, to pay for 30,000 drones for the war effort, the report said.A tax notice that started a petitionSvitlana Dvornikova, an OnlyFans creator with a large following, was among those contacted by tax authorities. She has said the tax she has already paid could cover 100 military pickup trucks or 2,000 drones on its own. After her run-in with the police, she started a petition calling for pornography to be made legal. The petition has now collected more than 25,000 signatures, the report said.Most ReadUkraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (Photo/AP)Oksana, who heads management at OFM Models, an agency that represents adult-content creators in Ukraine and abroad, told The Washington Post that enquiries from women wanting to join the industry had doubled since the bill’s first reading in parliament.Story continues below this adThe scale of the problemOfficials have struggled to enforce the existing ban. In just the first six months of 2025, more than 2,300 criminal cases linked to pornography were opened in Ukraine, the report said. The bill now awaits a second reading in parliament after clearing its first vote.$25 million is a small figure next to the roughly $120 billion Ukraine says it needs each year for defence. But lawmakers argue that even a modest, steady source of income is worth pursuing, especially one that is already there, simply operating outside the law.AdvertisementLoading Recommendations...AdvertisementLive BlogIND vs WI Live Score, 1st ODI: Gill nears century in chase, Kohli eyes 15,000 milestone13 minutes agoIndia news Highlights 27 September 2026: Barricades installed outside Parvesh Verma’s residence amid slapping row26 minutes agoWorld News Live Updates: Two bodies recovered from site of avalanche at Himlung Himal base camp in Nepal53 minutes agoAsian Games 2026, Day 9 Live Updates: Sarvesh Kushare wins men’s high jump silver, Parul Chaudhary wins women’s 3000m steeplechase bronze1 hour agoCBSE Date Sheet 2027 Live Updates: Board to issue exam schedule soon; check past trends9 hours agoAdvertisement