A scheme to embezzle payments for fallen occupiers is gaining momentum in Russia — CNN
A scandal has erupted in Russia over fraudulent schemes involving payments for soldiers who died in the war against Ukraine. So-called “black widows” are attempting to obtain millions in compensation, cutting out the actual relatives of the deceased.
According to Russian media reports, participants in these schemes enter into sham marriages or use other methods to claim government payments following the soldiers’ deaths.
The problem has grown in scale due to the substantial compensation that Russian authorities award to the families of fallen occupiers. As a result, conflicts arise between the sham wives and the soldiers’ actual relatives.
The fraudsters seek out men, enter into sham marriages with them right before they are sent to the front or when they are already on their deathbeds, and after their deaths, they embezzle millions in compensation, cutting out the real relatives.
Maria, a Russian woman from St. Petersburg, fell victim to this scheme. She only learned that her 59-year-old father had gone to war and been killed after his death. At the same time, it emerged that two days before being sent to the front lines, the man had married an unknown woman 22 years his junior. It was this woman who was granted the status of primary heir and claimant to state compensation in the amount of 5 million rubles. Furthermore, it later came to light that Maria’s father’s apartment had also been sold.
This case is not an isolated one—CNN emphasizes that the phenomenon of “black widows” has become widespread. Stories have emerged about a military hospital nurse who managed to marry five wounded soldiers before their deaths, as well as about real estate agents who openly advised Russian women to buy homes using the compensation payments for their slain husbands. The problem has reached such proportions that even members of the Russian parliament have been forced to respond, and courts are overturning certain decisions regarding the payments.
The catalyst for the rise of such scams was the Kremlin’s policy of maximizing the simplification of marriage procedures for military personnel. Moreover, Russian security officials themselves are involved in these schemes: in Primorsky Krai, an investigation is underway into a case where military officials arranged sham marriages for orphans and single recruits, after which they deliberately sent them on assaults with a high probability of death in order to split the compensation.
This was reported with reference to CNN.
The widows of Russian occupiers killed in the war are suing over the denial of compensation payments.
Since 2022, Russian occupiers have lost 1.35 million soldiers on the front lines
Russian occupiers are storming Ukrainian Armed Forces positions near an underground gas pipeline in the south
