Billions saved: Putin cuts payments to wounded soldiers in war against Ukraine
Putin cuts payments to wounded soldiers in war against Ukraine (Getty Images)
The government of the Russian Federation, following instructions from Vladimir Putin, has sharply reduced payments to soldiers wounded in the war against Ukraine. This will allow the country to save billions of dollars, according to the Russian government.
Until today, occupying forces were receiving 3 million rubles (about 100,000 dollars) for any injury.
The Russian government has introduced a three-tier scale where the amount of compensation depends on the severity of the injury.
The most seriously wounded will continue to receive 3 million rubles, which was previously guaranteed to all injured soldiers, according to the document. Compensation for medium injuries has been reduced to 1 million rubles, while for light injuries it is now 100,000 rubles (1,000 dollars).
According to Bloomberg, Putin's relative and Deputy Minister of Defense Anna Tsivilieva raised the issue of how to distribute compensation more fairly earlier this month, after visiting a hospital in Moscow and meeting with soldiers and doctors who voiced this idea.
Payments to the wounded represent a large portion of Moscow's war expenses. According to analysts from the War On The Rocks platform, by May 2024, one-time payments will amount to 900 billion rubles for the wounded (9 billion dollars).
This data is based on information from France and the United Kingdom, according to which losses by May had reached 400,000, with more than 100,000 killed. The families of the deceased receive around 14 million rubles (enough to buy a Lada Kalina car). Payments for the killed will amount to no less than 1.4 trillion rubles. In total, the sum will reach 2.3 trillion rubles, which is 6% of Russia's 2024 budget.
As a reminder, Vladimir Putin, by his decree, ordered an increase in the size of the Russian army by 180,000, bringing the total number of personnel to 2.39 million, with the number of soldiers increasing to 1.5 million.
According to British intelligence, the war in Ukraine has become an expensive endeavor for Russia, especially in terms of personnel. Since the start of the war, Russia has lost 610,000 people (killed and wounded).
