Outrage is growing in Russia over women accused of marrying soldiers shortly before their deployment to Ukraine to claim state compensation after they are killed in action. The practice has become a "booming industry", according to Keir Giles of Chatham House, with some women already on their third soldier.
Under Russian military rules, the next of kin of a killed soldier receives at least 5 million rubles (roughly £45,000). In one prominent case, Maria from St Petersburg learned that her 59-year-old father Yuri had married a woman 22 years his junior just two days before he was killed at the front. A military hospital nurse was dismissed after allegedly marrying five soldiers before they died of their injuries. In Ryazan, a mother and widow publicly disputed the payout after a soldier married a woman he had known for only 10 days.
Lawmaker Leonid Slutsky has called for protections for military families against such fraud. The Kremlin has condemned the practice, while Ian Garner of the Pilecki Institute noted that death payments are seen as life-changing sums in Russia.