A Montreal-Based Dating Site Advertises Ukrainian Women — Its Founder Is Defending It
He says some men "probably want to take advantage of the situation."
Homepage of the Montreal-based dating site ukreine.com.
It's been a month and a half since Russia invaded Ukraine, sparking strong reactions around the world. Close to home, there have been demonstrations in front of the Russian Consulate, and Ukrainian flags are selling out at flag shops. But there's another industry that has seen a boom in the past few weeks.
For Montreal-run dating site Ukreine.com, a matchmaking service pairing men with Ukrainian women, business has only gotten better during this ongoing conflict.
Noovo Info was first to report on Ukreine.com.
"I thought [the war] would be the end of our [site's] existence, but surprisingly the situation was just the contrary," Ukreine.com founder Dimitri Berezniakov told MTL Blog.
"We have three times more interest from men. A lot of new sign-ups from men."
Berezniakov suspects that the global conversation surrounding the Russian-Ukrainian conflict has brought attention to his Ukrainian-themed dating service.
"Some of the men, I think they never thought of dating abroad, and they discovered Ukraine with this situation and became interested. Another part probably want to take advantage of the situation as they see that a lot of women are fleeing."
Ukreine.com has been online since 1998. Over the last 24 years, it's been used by men from all corners of the world — including one in Antarctica. The site interviews all of the women to determine their reasons for signing up. They're then matched with potentially compatible men.
According to Berezniakov, 7 to 8% of single or divorced women in Ukraine are interested in finding love abroad. Sites like Ukreine.com have received criticism for exploiting women's desire for a better life, a desire that has obviously become more desperate in the last several weeks. Berezniakov maintains that he's just providing a service that meets the interests of all parties involved.
"It's not us who motivates women to flee from Ukraine. It's the Russian army. We don't have any impact on the reason. But we can make things easier for someone who is still single, still interested to meet someone."