Please Follow us on Gab, Minds, Telegram, Rumble, Truth Social, Gettr, Twitter, Youtube, Instagram
Ukraine’s parliament is weighing a bill that would legalize pornography production so the state can tax OnlyFans creators and funnel the proceeds straight into the defense budget. The measure, co-authored by opposition lawmaker Yaroslav Zhelezniak, cleared its first reading in July and now sits awaiting a second vote. Fenix International, the parent company of OnlyFans, already handed Ukrainian tax authorities records showing 7,900 locals pulled in $131 million on the platform last year. Zhelezniak claims legalization could yield roughly $25 million annually, enough to buy about 30,000 drones.
That figure looks microscopic next to Ukraine’s stated annual defense requirement of $120 billion. The gap underscores how far the country has been reduced to scraping for loose change while the larger conflict grinds on. Current law still treats pornography as a criminal offense, with penalties reaching seven years in prison for production, distribution, or even possession. Tax officials, however, have been chasing the same creators for unpaid levies on their earnings. The result is a perfect trap: pay the taxes and risk prosecution for the underlying activity, or withhold the taxes and face charges for evasion, writes the Wall Street Journal.
One prominent creator, Svitlana Dvornikova, who claims over a million subscribers, has flown repeatedly to France and Spain to film content and says she has already remitted $900,000 in taxes. Police raided her home anyway, seizing electronics and $200,000 in cash she had set aside for further payments. She filed a petition to President Zelensky that gathered 25,000 signatures. Tax lawyer Lesia Mykhalenko, who has represented more than 100 OnlyFans models, notes that the existing statutes simply overload the courts at a moment when resources should be directed elsewhere. Separate reporting from Ukraine’s general prosecutor indicates police departments in three regions each collect over $20,000 a month in bribes tied to the adult industry.
Former waitress Iryna Mosiychuk now runs Beezone, a company registered as a consulting firm that actually operates webcam studios outside Lviv serving mostly American clients. Models there reportedly clear $2,000 to $7,000 a month. The arrangement illustrates the parallel economy that has taken root while official policy remains frozen in contradiction. As the Wall Street Journal documented, these arrangements persist precisely because the legal framework offers creators no safe path forward.
The entire episode reveals the practical end state of a country sustained by external funding yet forced to mine its own population for pocket change. When parliament devotes floor time to taxing adult content while the broader fiscal hole yawns at $120 billion, the priorities on display require no further commentary.
‘NO AD’ subscription for CDM! Sign up here and support real investigative journalism and help save the republic!
