Russian court orders community service for realtor who advised property-seeking women to marry soldiers for death benefits

A court in Tomsk has sentenced a realtor to 80 hours of community service for “inciting hatred or enmity” by advising women to marry soldiers deployed to Ukraine on the assumption that they’ll later be killed, resulting in a large compensation payment from the state. In an interview with blogger Darya Cherdantseva (who was sentenced to 85 hours of community service for her role in the scandal), realtor Marina Orlova said several of her clients managed to overcome problems buying apartments by marrying “special military operation” participants and collecting the 8-million-ruble ($95,400) government payout when they died. She described this approach as a “business plan.”

Orlova’s advice drew intense criticism from Russia’s milibloggers, even after she and Cherdantseva publicly apologized for their remarks, calling them “dark humor” and “a joke between friends.” Orlova also said she didn’t expect Cherdantseva to release that part of their conversation.