Russia cuts troop bonuses and delays death benefits amid budget shortfalls

Several Russian regions are delaying injury payments to servicemen and cutting one-time contract bonuses with the Defence Ministry amid mounting local budget deficits.

In late November, Yakutia suspended payments to soldiers deployed to Russia's all-out war in Ukraine. Ivan Alekseev, Russia's finance chief, said this was the result of budget shortfalls.

Since October, the Samara region has reduced contract payments from 3.6 million roubles (€33,000) to 400,000 (€3,670) — the sharpest drop recorded since early 2025, according to Russian media.

Mari El cut contractor payments from 3 million roubles (€27,500) to 800,000 (€7,340). New recruits now receive half of that amount from the state plus another 400,000 roubles from the Defence Ministry. Tatarstan's military commission website shows similar reductions.

More than 10 Russian regions have reduced contract signing bonuses due to insufficient local funding. Over half of Russian regions are running budget deficits.

Ukraine's Foreign Intelligence Service reported that at least 11 regions cut contractor payments by November, including Leningrad, Samara, Nizhny Novgorod, Ulyanovsk and Orenburg regions, plus the republics of Bashkortostan, Tatarstan, Khakassia, Chuvashia and Mari El, and the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District.

Death benefit payments delayed

Families of contract soldiers killed in Ukraine face difficulties receiving regional death benefits, Russian media report.

Khakassia stopped paying 1.1 million roubles (€10,090) from the regional budget to servicemen's families. The payment dropped by 1 million roubles to just 100,000 (€920).

Ksenia Buganova, who heads the regional branch of the People's Front, urged authorities to restore the 1.1 million payment.

The current 100,000 rouble payment arrives after several months, Buganova said. "Families without savings must bury their deceased relatives in debt. The Popular Front requests reducing the transfer period to 10 days from application," she said.

Despite official statistics showing stable armed forces recruitment, signs of resource depletion are increasingly visible, Ukraine's Foreign Intelligence Service said.

Financial incentives have been crucial for attracting military personnel in many regions. Bonus cuts directly hamper recruitment, as increased payments over the past two years compensated for heightened risks and losses.

Government decisions indicate maintaining previous recruitment rates is becoming increasingly difficult.

Alexei Zhuravlev, first deputy chairman of the State Duma's defence committee, said payments "should not become the main motive."

"The trend is not healthy, and one might conclude the country's resources are gradually depleting. But such payments were initially only the goodwill of regional leaders."

"For real patriots, money should not be the main motive ... bonus, yes, but definitely not the main goal," he said.

Based on my searches, here are the missing context paragraphs on Russian military losses and unusual gifts:

Meat grinder as a gift?

Russia has suffered significant casualties in Ukraine, with Western estimates suggesting that total casualties have surpassed 1 million, of which at least one quarter were killed since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022.

Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi estimated in late December 2024 Russia lost 427,000 soldiers killed and wounded that year alone — the deadliest year of the war — with the highest monthly losses in November and December at 45,720 and 48,670 respectively.

Despite promises of substantial compensation, families of killed soldiers have received bizarre gifts from local authorities.

In Murmansk, authorities gave bereaved relatives a meat grinder alongside flowers — a gift critics called "grotesque" given the term "meat grinder" describes how Russian troops are killed in high volumes after being thrown into battle with little training and often end up purchasing their own kit.

On Mother's Day in November 2022, Kursk region leaders gave mothers of dead soldiers sets of towels, according to media reports.

One family received a single bicycle for their dead husband and father, whilst another injured soldier's family was given only two buckets of carrots and a bag of onions instead of the promised monetary compensation.

In Yakutsk, families were offered care packages containing vegetables such as carrots and onions.

Moscow has reportedly been concealing deaths by listing soldiers as "missing" rather than killed to avoid paying compensation, according to intercepted phone calls published by Ukrainian intelligence.

One Russian soldier could be heard saying authorities kept insisting his dead comrade was "still alive" to avoid payouts.

The Russian government spent approximately 2.75-3 trillion rubles (€25-27 billion) on military payments, injury compensation and death benefits between July 2023 and June 2024 — equivalent to roughly 1.5% of Russia's GDP.