But critics say that the unrealistic expectations of Ukrainian women of what a foreign man might offer makes them easy prey for scammers.A handsome-looking US soldier introduced himself online to Svitlana.They were exchanging messages for months before she invited him to come to Ukraine.

Svitlana Kononenko: But an even larger number of foreign men, disillusioned with dating at home, become victims of intricate online scams while looking for their other half in Ukraine.

Read also From Camouflage to Catwalk: Ukraine's female soldiers breaking stereotypes Signing up for online dating websites is free for women but not for men.

In most cases the men may end up paying thousands of dollars for chatting online to beautiful women who they will likely end up never meeting in person. ) a lot of money, if I wanted I'd be able to buy an apartment now.

Oh...it's probably a record breaking amount." Ukraine is home to some of the most beautiful women in the world.

And it's no wonder that Ukraine's internet romance industry is thriving despite economic hardships and the ongoing conflict in the eastern part of the country.

Last year at the height of tensions between Russia and Ukraine, more Western men were planning their trip to the Black Sea city of Odesa to find their eastern European soulmate than the previous year.

Olena Sosnovska, marriage agency director: Ukrainian internet dating has been seeking to rebrand itself.

Online sites are fighting their image of pairing seedy-looking older Western men with young women from poor, impoverished backgrounds.

This is Tetiana, she is a former Ukrainian TV presenter.

Tetiana recently married a Belgian man and moved to his hometown.

Read also Ukraine Today presents the documentary ‘ATM Woman' in English For many Ukrainian women this is a fairytale come to life, a foreign prince comes to Ukraine to whisk them off to a better life.

Tags: Adult Dating, affair dating, sex dating