Russian soldiers deceived and robbed military money on return from Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin has promised to greet the hero when they return from Ukraine, but the BBC revealed cases where government officials robbed and deceived officials.

Ever since the invasion began in February 2022, President Putin has entered the amount of the Russian army, based 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 recruiter can receive up to 5.2 million rubles (£ 47,000) in the first year of service, as well as up to 4 million rubles for injuries.

This can make up 600% of the average national wage.

For many, originally from the poor regions of Russia, this is irresistible despite the risk of returning.

The welder is originally from the city in the Rostov region, near Ukraine, Nikita Hursy spent only a couple of months on the front in the summer of 2024 before he was injured and sent home to recover.

This injury brought him a healthy bonus he and his wife Oksana planned to spend on buying an apartment.

However, after he went out of her drinking, he broke out, drunk, upset and barefoot – with a plastic bag containing their savings.

In his drunken state, the Hursa decided to drive to Rostov and buy an apartment there.

“If my wife were wiser, she would tell me to sleep over it and figure it out in the morning,” he complains about the BBC.

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

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

“Let’s not do it, he will just return from the war,” he recalls one police officer. But the second, seeing cash, said, “Be quiet, you know how much money?”

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

Officers did not address Vladimir Putin’s promises that those who decided to join the Russian war against Ukraine should be considered as heroes and a “new elite” on their return.

In another case, several police officers who worked at the Moscow airport are suspected of shutting down drivers’ taxi about the return of the military from the front.

Drivers offer a reasonable tariff, and then, after the trip, they would require 15 times more.

Those who resisted were threatened; Some were allegedly drugs or intoxicated while thieves used their bank cards.

Investigators believe the gang took at least 1.5 million rubles from the return of soldiers.

Sometimes wages are stolen before the military even saw the money.

In October 2024, police detained three central set in the region Vladimir for theft more than 11 million rubles in soldiers.

The suspects gained access to their salaries while maintaining the sim cards that were issued to a new recruit and were related to accounts.

In another case, a local official from the Belgorad region is suspected of stealing more than a million rubles from new recruits, linking their bank accounts with their own phone number.

Sometimes the soldiers robbed their own commanders.

One serviceman told the BBC that his unit had been denied access to shops and ordered to hand over his bank cards and a sergeant’s pin number.

The officer allegedly finished 50 salaries, many of the soldiers, are now listed as missing in action.

According to the soldier we talked to, he escaped with money. Some cards were reportedly reportedly up to 2 m.

Nikita Hursa reported two officers who took the money to the police.

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

Both officers have signed up to join the army and went to Ukraine, avoiding prosecution under a new law that allows criminal suspects to fight rather than to face charges.

“At first I was angry,” Hurs BBC said from the hospital near San Petersburg. “Then I thought that if there is God, perhaps it should be.”

He has never returned his money and is now waiting for a military doctor’s decision to go back to the front, as soldiers should remain in the fight until the end of the war.

Hursa says he has a shrapnel near his heart but does not see a civil future for himself.

Now he and Oksana dispersed: he said he did not want to keep his wife tied until he was in the army.

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