Russia Struggling to Pay Its Troops, Ukraine Says

Russian troops are struggling to get the money owed to them, according to Ukraine's military.

Already beset by reported issues of low morale, desertion as well as mishaps of Putin's mobilization, Russian troops and their families also face issues with pay, the Ukrainian Armed Forces said on Wednesday.

"There are significant problems in the Russian Federation with monetary payments to military personnel who participate in hostilities on the territory of Ukraine," the update said, according to a translation.

"Payments of monetary allowances for participation in hostilities are being delayed for this category," it said.

"Relatives of the dead cannot receive the promised compensation," it added in the update, which also outlined how the previous day, Russia had launched 10 missile and 18 air strikes, and carried out more than 76 attacks from rocket salvo systems.

Newsweek could not independently verify these claims and has contacted the Russian Defense Ministry.

It is not the first report of obstacles Russian troops have faced in getting remuneration. In August, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a think tank based in Washington, D.C, said that Russian reservists and volunteers were complaining they had not been paid, adequately fed or given benefits they were promised.

It said that Russia failed to provide sufficient food, ammunition, or cigarettes and had not provided for the funeral arrangements of volunteer soldiers killed in action.

On October 15, British defense officials said that many Russian conscripts had to pay for their own body armor, especially the modern 6B45 vest, which was selling on Russian online shopping sites for 40,000 rubles (about $640), up from around 12,000 roubles (around $190) in April.

Since the start of the invasion on February 24, Russians have been offered much more than the national average salary to join Putin's forces. In July, it was reported how in Moscow, those who joined the "Sobyanin Regiment," were promised a monthly salary of 200,000 rubles (about $3,200), more than three times the national average salary.

In September, Putin announced a partial mobilization that aimed to recruit 300,000 troops to join his faltering war effort. Seeking contract soldiers, mobile recruiting trucks were used to attract volunteers, offering nearly $2,700 a month as an incentive.

The Foundation of Ukrainian War Victims, a Kyiv organization fighting the Kremlin's hidden mobilization efforts, said that an online recruitment drive using classified ad platforms would be deployed to get more Russian troops to the frontline.

Posing as a would-be recruit from the city of Arkhangelsk, the foundation contacted a recruiter after consulting the job site hh.ru about fighting for Russia. He was promised a monthly salary of 150,000 rubles when sent to the front line, following two to four weeks of training.

Yuriy Mukhin, a board member of the foundation, told Newsweek that recruiters for the Russian army promoted vacancies for which a salary of up to 200,000 rubles was offered—"a very common sum," though "in reality they get less."