Sunday, February 4, 2024

Corruption Serious Problem for Russian Army in Ukraine, ‘Verstka’ Study Finds

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Jan. 31 – Having studied 1200 court cases involving corruption among Russian soldiers and officers in Ukraine, the Verstka news agency concludes that corruption in the ranks has not so much expanded as taken on new forms, including soldiers paying to be allowed to use cellphones, something banned by the command for security reasons.

            But soldiers want to retain their cellphones and are willing to bribe officers to allow them to do so. The soldiers are seldom given more than a slap on the wrists, the news agency finds; but officers who sell these rights are subject to more draconian punishments (verstka.media/kakie-uslugi-mozhno-kupit-v-voyskah-rf-vo-vremia-voyny).

            On the basis of this study, Daya Kucherenko of Verstka offers a table about the average bribes soldiers are offering and officers accepting for various services:  up to one million rubles for fake reports of wounding, up to 130,000 rubles for being sent to hospitals, 60,000 rubles for unauthorized leave, 40,000 rubles for not being sent to the front, and 1500 for veteran status.

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