On a sunny morning, deep in the forests of western Ukraine, where the war is barely reaching, 16,000 cans of a new energy drink, Volia, rolled off the assembly line every hour at the Morshynska beverage factory.
Several hundred miles east, driving toward the front line, the coolers of convenience stores and gas stations are loaded with Volia and a variety of other energy drinks: Burn, Monster, Non Stop, Hell, Pit Bull and, of course, the surprising drink. veteran of them all, Red Bull.
When you reach the trenches, where thousands of soldiers are entrenched trying to survive, the supremacy is complete: the Ukrainian soldiers will give up coffee, Coca-Cola and even water in favor of the liquid jolt they need to keep going. .
“In the morning when I wake up, I drink an energy drink. When I go out on patrol, I drink an energy drink. Before an attack, I drink an energy drink,” said a Ukrainian soldier who identified himself with his call sign, Psycho, for security reasons, according to military protocol.
“Let me explain something to you as a recognition person,” Psycho continued. “When you have to walk three, four or seven kilometers. And you carry 40 kilograms of equipment. And you’re covered in sweat. And you haven’t eaten or slept much in three days. If you don’t drink this, where are you going to get the energy for that final push?
Ukraine is going through its toughest time since the first months of Russia’s full-scale invasion more than two years ago, and its forces are struggling in the face of sustained attacks along the entire 600-mile front. Exhausted and exhausted, frontline troops are addicted to an ever-growing constellation of shrewdly marketed, high-caffeine energy drinks, some made especially for this war.
Sales are increasing. Energy drinks have become one of the few bright spots in the Ukrainian economy. New strains and crazy flavors (cotton candy, cactus, and even cannabis) continue to appear with names like Jungle, Boost, and Stalker.
You see cans everywhere. Stuffed into ammunition vests. Playing with backpacks with bullets. In the back of the tanks. Empty crushed boats piled in trenches next to dead Russians.
Ukrainian companies market these drinks to appeal to frontline troops and the fighting spirit they embody, giving them camouflage labels or patriotic slogans and names like Volia, which means, loosely (there is no direct translation), freedom and willpower.
“We wanted a piece of the action,” said Marco Tkachuk, CEO of IDS Ukraine, which owns the Morshynska bottling plant and the Volia brand.
Morshynska is a water company based about 45 kilometers south of the city of Lviv. It made its mark years ago by harnessing natural springs in the Carpathians and packaging water in 1.5-liter plastic bottles that have become ubiquitous throughout Ukraine.
But in 2022, Tkachuk, along with other Ukrainian beverage executives, realized something significant was happening as the tensions of war intersected with the global energy drink craze.
The Russian invasion had disrupted every aspect of life in Ukraine, intensifying the demand for a quick caffeine fix that didn’t require a coffee, boiling water, a cup of coffee, or a tea bag. And not only the soldiers craved it.
“The civilian population’s greatest need for energy sources arises from constant missile attacks, anxiety and lack of sleep,” said Taras Matsypura, vice president of Carlsberg Ukraine.
That’s why last year Carlsberg, a major international player, also started manufacturing an energy drink in Ukraine: Battery.
The market, Matsypura said, was “booming.”
Even with the economy suffering and millions of Ukrainians having fled the country, sales of energy drinks in Ukraine have increased nearly 50 percent since the start of the war, according to industry surveys.
Individual soldiers, their units and civilian volunteers bringing essential items to the front are purchasing trucks. Some beverage manufacturers, such as IDS Ukraine, offer it for free. And a Ukrainian supply chain has sprung into action to boost it.
Big trucks, small trucks, soldiers’ cars smeared with military green paint, motorcycles and bicycles travel through a landscape of blown-up buildings and collapsed bridges to transport boxes hundreds of kilometers from factories in central and western Ukraine to trenches in the this.
“Before the war, no one bought it on this scale,” said Serhii Parakhin, a merchant. “Except truckers.”
The best-selling brands are cheaper Ukrainian varieties such as Non Stop and Pit Bull, but imported ones such as Red Bull (from Austria), Monster (from the United States) and Hell (from Hungary) are also popular.
What distinguishes an energy drink from other soft drinks is its high level of caffeine, along with additives such as taurine (an amino acid), B-12 (a vitamin), and guarana extract (from an Amazonian fruit). All are believed to boost sagging energy levels.
Many of these drinks contain about 100 milligrams of caffeine per can, about the same as a cup of coffee. But for coffee you need hot water, and for that you need to light a fire or plug in electricity, and when you’re crouched in a muddy ditch, those aren’t easy things to do.
Of course, there are health problems from consuming too much caffeine, which can cause hand tremors, high blood pressure, and stomach problems. A 2018 study of US soldiers found that high energy drink use was “significantly related” to depression, anxiety, aggressive behaviors and, paradoxically, fatigue.
Bacha, a Ukrainian infantry sergeant, said that one of his senior soldiers, who suffered from heart disease, had died last winter; The unit wondered if it could have been related to his habit of drinking 10 cans a day. Bacha said the man was found collapsed in the bathroom, with an energy drink in his hand.
Psycho rules out medical risks. Before the war, he said, he was a paramedic, fitness fanatic and taekwondo champion. In pre-war photographs, he looked like a cross between a Calvin Klein underwear model and Mister Universe. He has been awarded several medals and was recently wounded in the leg.
“I’ve been drinking these since I was 14,” he said. “There’s nothing wrong with them.”
IDS Ukraine, one of Eastern Europe’s largest bottlers, said it was donating up to 40,000 cans a month to the Ukrainian military. Soldiers have been part of his process from the beginning, starting with the etiquette: a former Ukrainian soldier, a Cossack, staring over a handlebar mustache.
When the company launched its product last year, it asked military units to test it. Tkachuk explained that his formula was prepared a little differently: It’s based on mineral water and uses fructose and glucose instead of regular refined sugar. (“They say sugar works best to improve health, but we found some examples in China that used fructose and glucose,” he said.)
The soldiers liked the taste and the result was a drink that Tkachuk said was not necessarily healthy but “healthier.”
Some soldiers said they preferred to carry energy drinks into battle rather than bread. Others said they had become frontline currency.
“Energy drinks in the army are not just a drink, but the most popular gift,” said Anton Filatov, a film critic turned soldier.
(Russians have their own favorites, including some patriotically packaged with a red star.)
Last August, Psycho received a piece of shrapnel a millimeter above his eye. He was disoriented, bleeding and in shock.
“I crawled into a position and found a can of Burn,” he said.
He drank it and said he felt better immediately.
“In war you try to value these little things,” Psycho explained. “Imagine. Just a can of Burn. But my mood was very happy.”
Oleksandra MykolyshynKatya Lachina and Julia Creswell contributed reports.