Russian troops 'forced to pay £30k bribes to escape Ukraine front'
Soldier Denis Kolesnikov claimed that those who failed to pay the fee, which could range from £10,000-£30,000, were sent to their deaths.
Russian soldiers have claimed military chiefs are charging up to £30,000 to spare them from the front lines in Ukraine.
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Shocking footage shows a junior sergeant revealing the corrupt network, in which soldiers are being offered the chance to pay extortionate sums to flee to safety.
Experts say the illegal practice is "systemic" and also involves widespread extortion and the illicit trafficking of weapons.
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Soldier Denis Kolesnikov claimed that those who failed to pay the fee, which could range from £10,000-£30,000, were sent to their deaths.
“More than half of our unit were reset by the commanders,” he told the Telegraph.
"Everyone has to pay the commanders. If someone doesn’t pay, they’re considered unnecessary, sent to the front, and reset. I personally saw several people killed."
Mr Kolesnikov is seen in the footage, verified by the Ukrainian Security and Cooperation Centre (USCC).
The video is the latest in a series of claims of corruption levelled against claims of corruption levelled against the Russian military.
"Such abuses are indeed widespread and systematic in the Russian army, mainly among front-line units," Olesia Horiainova, deputy head of the USCC, said.
"Russian military personnel are willing to pay money to avoid going to the front, indicating a serious problem with the motivation of the Russian army against the backdrop of the bloody tactics of the Russian command."
Commanders are said to coerce the soldiers into surrendering part of their pay for supposed "unit support", before pocketing the cash.
The military leaders are also alleged to have stolen equipment - including drones, electronics and other weapons - and to have forced soldiers to purchase these items at their own expense.
Some commanders have been accused of failing to report the dead and missing, leaving their units chronically understaffed with "dead souls" - soldiers listed on paper as active but who have already died.
In some cases, Russian commanders are not sending wounded personnel for treatment if they do not pay for the documentation necessary to receive state veteran benefits, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) claims.
"The ISW observed several instances of Russian military commanders committing Russian servicemen to suicidal assaults in Ukraine if they refused to provide a bribe or if they attempted to complain about the corruption in their units," Kateryna Stepanenko, a Russian research fellow at the ISW, said.
"These instances suggest that corruption and hazing will likely only continue to intensify, especially as the Kremlin continues to deprioritise efforts to professionalise the Russian military in order to maintain Russia’s war effort in Ukraine."
Mr Kolesnikov also claims in the video that soldiers are told to cough up more money after their first payments “run out”.
He says that he has been sent to the city of Rostov after paying £30,000 to flee his unit and travel to Moscow. His current whereabouts remain unknown.
“Weapons are constantly taken from the front. I don’t know where they go or for what purpose,” he added.
The soldier suggests these abuses are part of a broader pattern of corruption that undermines unit integrity and operational effectiveness.