Putin Increases One-Time Disability Pay for Frontline Troops to $40,000

Russian troops with severe injuries that led to disabilities will receive a one-time payment of 4 million rubles ($40,202), as per a decree issued by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday. 

The payment goes on top of other compensations for veterans in Russia. The changes apply to troops who took part in the war in Ukraine – what Putin called his “special military operations” – since 2022. 

Troops who have already received payment of 3 million rubles ($30,151) for serious injuries will receive an additional 1 million rubles ($10,050) after being declared disabled. 

Previously, injured Russian troops received 3 million rubles ($30,255), regardless of severity, but Putin issued another decree recently that reduced the payments to 1 million rubles ($10,078) for minor wounds and 100,000 rubles ($1,008) for “other minor injuries.” 

Since the 2022 invasion, families of Russian troops killed in action were paid 5 million rubles ($50,252). Later, similar payments were extended to volunteers, employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and Russia’s Investigative Committee, Russian state media TASS reported. 

Military spending in Russia has been fueling its gross domestic product (GDP) growth and inflation. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimated in October that Russia’s 2024 year-on-year growth was at 3.6% of real GDP, which was slightly better than the 3.2% growth the IMF forecasted in April.

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The Ukrainian military regularly reports that Russian forces are resorting to ‘meat assaults,’ sending wounded or poorly trained fighters into battle as cannon fodder.

However, the IMF slashed its forecast for Russia’s growth in 2025 from 1.8% to 1.3% of real GDP, according to its October 2024 World Economic Outlook. 

Russia’s economy is facing high demand with the maximum supply capacity inside the country, alongside increasing inflation and tight monetary policy, according to Alfred Kammer, director of IMF’s European Department during a press briefing in October.

“What we are seeing right now in the Russian economy and debt: It is pushing against capacity constraints. We have a positive output gap, or you could put it differently – the Russian economy is overheating,” Kammer said.