Russian war spending keeps rising while some regions slash death benefits for soldiers’ families by up to 95%
In the fifth year of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia is spending more on its military and looking for new ways to fund the war. In recent months, however, several Russian regions have sharply cut payments to the families of those killed in the war. Here are a few examples.
- In the Ulyanovsk region, payments to the families of service members killed in the war were cut from 1 million rubles to 500,000 in February 2026, then to 50,000 in April.
- In the Kemerovo region, the payment was cut to a third of its previous amount in February, from 3 million rubles to 1 million.
- In the Omsk region, the payment was cut from 1 million rubles to 500,000 in February.
- In Bashkortostan, the payment was cut to a fifth of its previous amount in May, from 500,000 rubles to 100,000.
- In the Saratov region, the payment was cut to a tenth of its previous amount in late September, from 1 million rubles to 100,000.
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