Anastasia Pechenyuk11:47, 04/01/23

Russian prisoners thrown into the war. bequeathed compensation for their death to Wagner PMC, says Osechkin.

The PMC “Wagner” and other Russian structures operate a scheme that allows the generals to cash in on huge losses of personnel , human rights activist Vladimir Osechkin said in an interview with Yulia Latynina. 

“We are horrified by the losses that, among other things, are taking place near Bakhmut. But they have never horrified either Putin, or Prigogine, or those who are with them. Because they understand that … the more people from among Russians, the more the Kremlin generals will make black bloody money on this,” says Osechkin. 

The human rights activist recalled that tens of thousands of prisoners from the colonies, whom the Wagner PMC sent to the front, were promised compensation in the event of death in the amount of 5 million rubles. But there is often no one to receive this money, and they go to the PMC itself.

“Very many of those whom they took away from colonies, colonies of strict regime, special regime – there was a second, third term. There are no closest relatives, many parents no longer have. They themselves are 40, 50, 60 years old. Many wives left, they simply have no heirs, and many of them write: “In the event of my death, the money will remain for the Wagner company,” says the human rights activist.

He also notes that the “Wagnerites” are slipped documents that they sign without looking, and subsequently their signatures are very easy to forge if necessary. The human rights activist is sure that when a full-fledged investigation is carried out against the Wagner PMCK, the units that oversaw all this through the FSIN and the FSB, “a monstrous falsification, theft on this topic will be revealed.”

“A lot of people now do not receive money from relatives. Because they say to one: “He bequeathed it there not to you, his official wife, but to some of his mistresses.” Or there: “You divorced him, he still someone …”. There is a hole between what is allocated from the Russian budget under various items. … There is one amount that is paid, goes for payments, and the amount that actually reaches the recipients is much less, “adds Osechkin .

How much do the Russian military get paid 

One of the ways to lure as many Russians as possible into the war against Ukraine, which was used by the Russian authorities, was the promise of payments, which is many times higher than the average salary. 

The head of the Russian “Union of Committees of Soldiers’ Mothers” Valentina Melnikova, in a media commentary, said that as of March, contract soldiers, mobilized, and volunteers should be paid from 195 thousand rubles a month. Similar amounts were called by the “Wagnerites” who fell into Ukrainian captivity. They said that they were promised 100,000 rubles for training and 200 for participating in hostilities. At the same time, they complained that payments were made to relatives or trusted persons according to a complex scheme, and the money itself subsequently did not go to the accounts.

Throughout 2023, in the Russian regions, they complain about the delay in cash payments to Russian military personnel. Volunteers, “mobiles”, and contractors do not receive salaries.

(C)UNIAN 2023