Russia to strip contract soldiers of one-off payment if laws violated at home
The draft would require convicted troops and National Guard personnel to repay part of signing bonuses based on months of service left.
- A draft law published in Russia proposes recovering part of the minimum $4,640 one-off payment from contract soldiers convicted of criminal offenses, aimed "in order to increase the motivation of military personnel to comply with the law."
- The measure addresses increasing domestic violence cases as fighters return to Russia on leave, with independent media reporting hundreds of such cases, including murders, since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
- Under the proposed legislation, active contract service members found guilty of criminal offenses not resulting in prison sentences would repay a portion of the one-off payout based on the remaining months of service.
- While the minimum one-off payment is 400,000 roubles for signing a one-year contract, actual payouts can reach a few million roubles per soldier depending on the region, in addition to a monthly salary.
- Russia is concurrently reducing prison sentences for inmates who sign up for the war, among other benefits, as it seeks to bolster the number of personnel in the Russian Armed Forces.
18 Articles
18 Articles
The background is the increase in cases of domestic violence among those participating in Russia's war against Ukraine.
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.
A new draft law would motivate contract soldiers to obey the law.
The Russian Ministry of Defence offered to recover part of the federal lump sum from convicted military personnel if they continued to serve after sentencing.
Russia Proposes Financial Penalties for Criminally Convicted Soldiers
Russia's defence ministry plans to reclaim portions of one-off payments from soldiers guilty of crimes, amid rising domestic violence cases involving soldiers from the Ukraine conflict. The draft law aims to motivate compliance with laws and adjust payouts based on remaining service months.
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