Since the beginning of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine, more than 10,000 servicemen of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation have received special payments for personally destroying or capturing military equipment of the enemy, the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) said on Friday.
A total of 7,064 Russian servicemen were awarded payments for wiping out 11,586 pieces of Ukrainian military equipment and weapons in 2022.
In the period from 1 January to 31 May this year, 3,193 Russian military personnel were paid for personally destroying 4,415 units of Ukrainian and Western military equipment.
Corresponding payments are made on the basis of orders issued by commanders of military units, which are subsequently transferred to the personal financial accounts of military personnel. There are no restrictions on how much military personnel can receive, as it is based solely on how many pieces of enemy equipment they have destroyed, the MoD added.
Accordingly, a payment of 300,000 rubles ( $3,600) was made for each of the 45 Ukrainian helicopters and 71 Ukrainian Air Force that were destroyed by military pilots and air defense operators in 2023. Servicemen of Ground and Airborne Forces’ units, as well as the Marine Corps and artillery units received 100,000 rubles for the destruction of each of the many hundreds of armored vehicles of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in 2023. And payments of 50,000 rubles were made to Russian servicemen for wiping out each of the 1,501 enemy armored combat vehicles, 203 self-propelled artillery units, and 85 multiple launch rocket systems.
For each of the 15 successfully targeted and destroyed Tochka-U tactical missile systems and HIMARS multiple launch rocket systems, Russian servicemen received a payment of 300,000 rubles.
For the successful interception of 941 missiles fired by the Armed Forces of Ukraine from the Tochka-U tactical missile complexes, the Vilkha, Smerch, Uragan and HIMARS multiple launchers, as well as the destruction of each one of the 1211 Ukrainian medium-range unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), Russian servicemen received 50,000 rubles each.
Russian Navy servicemen, whose prompt actions destroyed six Ukrainian high-speed unmanned boats that attacked Russian ships and civilian infrastructure in Crimea, were paid 200,000 rubles ( $2,400) each.
At present, on the basis of reports from the commanders of units serving in the Zaporozhye and South-Donetsk directions, payments are being made to servicemen of the Russian Armed Forces whose combat actions resulted in the destruction of Leopard tanks, as well as US and NATO-made armored fighting vehicles.