Russian War Payments: Regional Cuts Reach 90%
Bashkortostan slashed its death benefit by 20 times, while other regions cut or abolished their own supplements as local deficits grew.
By Jonathan Reed ·
Russian regions are reducing or ending extra payments to the families of soldiers killed in the war with Ukraine. A source in the Russian government told Bloomberg that at least ten regions have lowered these war-related benefits because their budgets are running short and federal compensation has not kept up.
The cuts have been severe. In Bashkortostan, the payment to bereaved families dropped from 2 million rubles in September 2025 to 100,000 rubles by the end of April 2026. That is a 20-fold reduction in what those families receive from the regional government. Saratov Oblast reduced its similar payment by 90%, cutting it from 1 million rubles to 100,000 rubles. Samara Oblast went further and stopped paying its 1 million ruble supplement entirely for new applicants. Local officials there cited the need to balance the budget and avoid duplicating social support programs.
These changes affect only the regional additions to the standard payout. The federal government’s base payment for a serviceman’s death remains at 5 million rubles. When Russia launched its full-scale invasion, local governments competed to offer the highest incentives to recruits. That race is now over as authorities try to control spending on social programs.
The financial strain is visible in the numbers. In 2025, the combined deficit of Russia’s regional budgets hit 1.54 trillion rubles. Seventy-three regions ended that year in the red, up from 49 the previous year. Reports from July indicated that the 2026 federal budget deficit could exceed official projections by more than 1 trillion rubles.
