They got married, but she continued to live with her ex-boyfriend while he left his body on the battlefield. Compensations exceed 155 thousand euros. Social networks have facilitated the search for soldiers to carry out the coup.
In Ukraine, some see war; others, poor people, see love and others, business opportunities.
He realized, on the 4th, that there are women seducing Russian soldiers with the aim of marrying them and then receiving compensation if they die on the battlefield.
As “black widows” they are increasingly frequent since the conflict began in 2022, legal experts and Russian officials say. The war in Ukraine forced the Russian government to offer high salaries, recruitment bonuses and better payments to the families of dead soldiers — and this attracted interest.
Depending on the patent and circumstances, damages may exceed 155 thousand euros.
In some poorer regions of Russia, where many soldiers are recruited, the phenomenon has generated family conflicts. Cases that fill up the court’s time, cited by the WSJ, refer, for example, to estranged parents and grandparents claiming portions of the compensation, as they believe they helped raise their children or grandchildren sent to the front.
Social networks have made it easier to find “suitable” soldiers. On the VK platform, there are dozens of groups with suggestive names, such as “Soldier Encounters” or “Shoulder Badge Encounters”, specifically dedicated to women looking for military personnel serving in Ukraine.
Although the exact number of cases is difficult to determine, investigations have identified at least half a dozen cases in Russian courts where it was alleged or concluded that soldiers or family members were deceived through sham marriages to misappropriate compensation.
One of those deceived was Sergey Khandozhko, a 40-year-old Russian soldier. In October 2023, Khandozhko got married suddenly, in a brief ceremony lasting just 20 minutes, without exchanging rings and with just one guest. But everyone was surprised when his new wife continued to live with her ex-husband and children.
Shortly afterwards, Khandozhko died in combat in Ukraine and his wife received the compensation paid to the families of the dead soldiers, which amounted to 14.5 million rubles (around 155 thousand euros).
A Russian civil court concluded that Elena Sokolova, the wife, had tricked the soldier into marrying her just for compensation. The marriage was annulled and Sokolova was fined 3,000 rubles (about 31 euros), although she appealed the decision.
Meanwhile, in the political sphere, some parliamentarians are calling for more severe measures against the schemes, namely tougher penalties and limitations on the compensation that beneficiaries obtain through fraudulent marriages. To
“These monsters have chosen to dishonor the most sacred thing: caring for the families of fallen heroes,” declared the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia Leonid Slutsky, referring to women seeking marriages, comparing them to looters in the Siege of Leningrad during World War II.
