Russian soldiers, deceived and robbed of military money in replacement from Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin promised Russian soldiers a greeting of the hero when they returned from Ukraine, but the BBC find cases of military personnel, robbed and deceived for their salaries and payments by government officials.

Since the invasion began in February 2022, President Putin has stretched the size of the Russian army, relying on financial incentives to attract volunteers.

Like thousands of Russians, 39-year-old Nikita Hursa went to fight in Ukraine for money.

Depending on the region, the rookie may receive up to 5.2 million rubles (47,000 British pounds) in the first year of service, plus up to 4 million rubles for injuries.

This can amount to 600% of the average national salary.

For many, a native of the worse regions of Russia, it is irresistible, despite the risk of not returning.

Initially, a welder from a city in Rostov region, near Ukraine, Nikita Hursa spent only a few months at the front in the summer of 2024 before being wounded and sent back home to recover.

This injury won him a huge bonus that he and his wife, Okana, planned to spend on buying an apartment.

However, after falling with her one night because of his drinking, he exploded, drunk, upset and barefoot – with a plastic bag containing their savings in cash.

In her drunken country, Hursa decided to drive to Rostov and instead buy an apartment there.

“If my wife was wise, she would tell me to sleep over him and decide in the morning,” he mourns from the BBC.

He got in his car, but did not drive very far before he was stopped by the traffic police, who noticed the bag and demanded a bribe.

Hursa told the two officers that he had recently returned from Ukraine.

“Let’s not do this, he just returns from the war,” he remembers, who offered a police officer. But the other, seeing the money, said, “Shut up, do you know how much money that is?”

They took almost everything – 2.66 million rubles (24,000 pounds).

The officers did not treat Vladimir Putin’s promises that those who decided to join Russia’s war against Ukraine should be treated as heroes and the “new elite” on their return.

In another case, several police officers who have worked at an airport in Moscow suspect that they are referring to taxi drivers to return from the front.

Drivers would offer a reasonable tariff and then, after completing the ride, they would ask up to 15 times more.

Those who resisted were threatened; Some claim to have been drugged or intoxicated while the thieves used their bank cards.

Investigators believe the gang has taken at least 1.5 million rubles from the returning soldiers.

Sometimes salaries were stolen before servicemen even saw the money.

In October 2024, police arrested three employees of the Vladimir Recruitment Center for theft of more than 11 million rubles from soldiers.

The suspects have gained access to their salary bills, retaining the SIM cards that have been issued to the new recruits and are bound by the bills.

In another case, a local employee from the Belgorod region suspects that he has stolen more than a million rubles from new recruits, connecting his bank accounts to his own telephone number.

Sometimes the soldiers were robbed by their own commanders.

A serviceman told the BBC that his department was denied access to stores and ordered to hand over his bank cards and PIN number to Sergeant Major.

It is alleged that the officer has completed 50 salary cards, many belonging to soldiers who are now listed as missing.

According to the soldier we were talking to, he escaped the money. Some cards have been reported to have up to 2 million rubles.

Nikita Hursa reported that the two employees who had taken his money from the police.

They were accused of robbery and abuse of power, but the case never came to court.

Both officers registered to join the army and went to Ukraine, avoiding the prosecution under a new law that allows suspect criminals to fight instead of faced.

“At first I was angry,” Hursa told the BBC from a hospital near St. Petersburg. “Then I thought that if there was a God, maybe it should be.”

He has never returned his money and is now waiting for a military doctor’s decision whether he should return to the front, as the contractual soldiers must remain in the match until the end of the war.

Hursa says she has a shrapnel near her heart, but does not see a civil future for herself.

He and Zana now split: he said he did not want to hold his wife tied while in the military.

“If I’m not here, I’ll find myself on the street,” he says. “Only the army saves you, puts a roof over your head.”

Illustrations of Natalia Maca.