Despite promises of heroism and financial rewards, many Russian soldiers returning from Ukraine have fallen victim to fraud, extortion, and outright theft—often at the hands of officials meant to support them.
The Russian military has relied heavily on monetary incentives to recruit soldiers, offering sums far exceeding the average national wage. For men like Nikita Khursa, a welder from the Rostov region, the promise of millions of roubles was enough to risk deployment. After being wounded in combat, Khursa received a substantial payout—only to lose nearly all of it in a single night.
Drunk and angry after an argument with his wife, Khursa left home with a bag of cash, intending to buy an apartment. Instead, he was stopped by traffic police who, upon seeing the money, demanded a bribe. Despite his pleas as a returning soldier, officers seized 2.66 million roubles (£24,000).
Khursa’s case is far from isolated. In Moscow, police allegedly tipped off taxi drivers about soldiers arriving from the front. Drivers would charge exorbitant fares, sometimes threatening or even drugging passengers to steal their money. Elsewhere, recruitment officials and commanders have been accused of siphoning salaries before soldiers ever receive them—in one case, a sergeant major allegedly collected 50 bank cards from his unit, many belonging to missing soldiers.
Legal recourse has proven ineffective. The officers who robbed Khursa enlisted in the military themselves, exploiting a law that allows suspects to avoid prosecution by serving in Ukraine. Now, Khursa faces the prospect of returning to the front, his marriage dissolved and his savings gone.
With no civilian prospects, he sees the army as his only refuge. “If I’m not here, I’ll end up on the street,” he said. “Only the army saves you, puts a roof over your head.”
For many Russian soldiers, the war’s dangers don’t end on the battlefield—they continue at home, where the promised rewards often vanish before they can be claimed.
