British intelligence analyzes situation with corruption in Russian army
The UK's Defense Ministry said this in an intelligence update on Ukraine published on the social media platform X, Ukrinform reports.
It is noted that following a review of over a thousand military bribery cases, on January 30, 2024 independent Russian newspaper Verstka published an article on corruption in the Russian army. Their research identified patterns of corruption and a system of bribed used by Russian service members and their commanders.
“Bribes were given or demanded for various ‘services’ such as: leave, certification of physical training, military rank, driver licenses, and avoiding disciplinary action against soldiers for using smartphones or who get drunk,” the report says.
After February 2022 the set of “services’ was expanded to include injury certificates, awards for participating in the “Special Military Operation” and avodining being sent on a combat mission.
Verstka published the going rates for these "services," ranging from 40,000 rubles (more than $440) to avoid being sent to the front line up to 1 million rubles (over $11,000) for an injury certificate.
The British intelligence stresses that corruption has long been a problem in the Russian Armed Forces. The journalist Dmitry Kholodov investigated military corruption in th 1990s and was killed in Moscow by a bomb in a briefcase in October 1994.
“It is likely that corruption significantly undermines the effectiveness of the Russian military. There is only a remote change that significant progress will be made in reducing corruption levels,” the report says.
As reported by Ukrinform, the Ukrainian Defense Forces eliminated about 387,060 Russian invaders from February 24, 2022 to February 2, 2024, including 830 occupiers in the past day alone.
