A phone conversation that was intercepted by Ukraine’s Military Intelligence (HUR) suggests that Moscow is avoiding paying compensation to families of fallen soldiers by not informing them of their relatives’ deaths during the conflict with Ukraine. Russian soldier claims the Kremlin has been evading compensation payments by falsely labeling slain soldiers as “missing” instead of dead. Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a decree in January 2023, allocating 5 million rubles ($53,800) to the families of fallen military and 3 million rubles ($32,280) to wounded soldiers.
Earlier that month, in June 2023, the mother of Russian soldier Mikhail Cherkasov said that her son had been notified of his death in battle by his colleagues. As returning Cherkasov to Russia would not be a “profitable” endeavor, the Russian troops were instructed to leave his corpse on the battlefield. In December, the independent Russian investigative site Mozhem Obyasnit (We Can Explain) revealed that the government had allegedly sent another wounded Russian soldier two buckets of carrots and an onion bag rather than the promised funds.
Following a directive approved by Vladimir Putin, the families of Russian troops who have died in war will receive 5 million rubles (£42,000), while those who have been wounded on the battlefield will get 3 million rubles (£25,000). Once again, the Kremlin has failed to pay up on a claim. As it wasn’t “profitable” to send her son home, Mikhail Cherkasov’s companions were compelled to abandon his corpse on the battlefield, according to his mother, who spoke to them about his death in June 2023.
Russian casualties in the conflict since it began in February 2022 have reached 450,080, according to fresh figures provided by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Just in the previous 24 hours, 830 Russian servicemen have been killed or injured.
