Russian troops paying corrupt commanders £30,000 to avoid being sent to the front line

Russian soldiers are being forced to hand over their wages in exchange for their safety. They are sent to their deaths on the front line in Ukraine if they don’t pay, it is claimed

Russian troops are coughing up £30,000 to avoid being sent to their deaths on the frontline.

The soldiers are being forced to hand over their wages to corrupt commanders in exchange for their safety. Video footage shows junior sergeant Denis Kolesnikov revealing a murky network within the army that involves widespread extortion and trafficking of weapons.

He claimed that commanders “reset” troops, which means sending them to their deaths, if they refused to pay the sums ranging from £10,000 to £30,000. The soldier said: “More than half of our unit were reset by the commanders. Everyone has to pay them.

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“If someone doesn’t pay, they’re considered unnecessary, sent to the front, and reset. I personally saw several people killed.”

The footage marks the latest in a series of claims of corruption against the Russian military. Ukrainian Security and Cooperation Centre (USCC) deputy head Olesia Horiainov said: “Such abuses are indeed widespread and systematic in the Russian army, mainly among front line units. Russian military personnel are willing to pay money to avoid going to the front.”

She added this shows “a serious problem with the motivation of the Russian army against the backdrop of the bloody tactics” of commanders.

It comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin went on a bizarre rant at his country’s top judges. He demanded that “punishment must be inevitable” across the nation.

Addressing a gathering of judges from courts of general jurisdiction, military, and arbitration courts in Moscow, the Russian leader delivered a surreal speech that swerved frantically from Soviet cinema to Tsarist decrees and complaints about cryptocurrency. Demanding that the judicial system project strength, Putin invoked a famous line from a mid-century Soviet crime film, telling the assembled judges: “A thief must be in jail. The essential principle—and we all learned this during our time at university—is that punishment must be inevitable.”

The Russian leader also used the platform to lash out at modern technology, complaining that digital currencies are being used by “terrorist and extremist groups” and admitting that his regime’s laws are struggling to keep up with the 21st century. “Life, as they say, outpaces the law,” he grumbled.

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