Russia’s Defense Ministry proposes clawing back part of contract bonuses from convicted soldiers ‘to motivate compliance with the law’
Russia’s Defense Ministry has proposed clawing back part of the federal signing bonus paid to military personnel who are convicted of crimes but are not sentenced to prison. The draft resolution was published on the government portal for draft legal acts. Verstka, an independent Russian news outlet, was among the first to notice it.
The measure would apply to Defense Ministry and Russian National Guard personnel who received a sentence not involving imprisonment and remained in service. They would have to repay part of the bonus, with the amount calculated in proportion to the number of months left until the end of their service. The lump-sum payments themselves total either 195,000 or 400,000 rubles.
The resolution’s stated goal is to “increase service members’ motivation to comply with Russian law,” according to its explanatory memo. The decision to draft it followed an April 24 meeting of Russia’s Security Council. That meeting addressed measures to prevent crimes in the military “in light of the experience of the special military operation.”
Alexey Tabalov, founder of the human rights project “School for Conscripts,” told Verstka he suspects the authorities are simply trying to save money on payments to service members.
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