Russia offers troops £930 cash bonuses for any US or UK tanks they destroy
- Russian troops will be paid to destroy NATO-supplied vehicles
- It is part of a larger reward scheme, according to the Russian defense ministry.
Russia has offered bonus payments to troops for every Western-made tank they destroy.
Russian troops will be paid £930 to destroy German-made Leopard tanks and any other armored vehicles supplied by “NATO countries”, which would include Britain and the United States.
It comes as Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu awarded the “Gold Star Hero of Russia” medal on Sunday to soldiers who had destroyed armored equipment being used in the Kiev counteroffensive.
It is part of a broader rewards scheme under which more than 10,000 Russian servicemen have received bonuses since Putin’s invasion of Ukraine nearly 16 months ago.
The Russian Defense Ministry said: “Payments are currently being made to servicemen of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation who, in the course of military operations, destroyed Leopard tanks, as well as US-made armored fighting vehicles. and other NATO countries.
Russian troops will be paid £930 for destroying German-made Leopard tanks and any other armored vehicles supplied by “NATO countries”. Pictured: US and German tanks destroyed in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, last week.
A total of 10,257 servicemen had been rewarded for destroying 16,001 items of Ukrainian and Western military equipment as of May 31, the ministry said.
He added that an enemy armored vehicle was worth 50,000 rubles (£467) and a tank 100,000 rubles (£930), he said.
Military pilots and air defense operators received 300,000 rubles (£2,800) for each destroyed Ukrainian plane or helicopter.
Hits on the US-supplied Tochka-U and HIMARS launch rocket systems are rewarded the same amount.
In March, state announcements suggested that Russian recruits were being offered up to £530 for every kilometer of land gained in Ukraine.
An advertisement posted by a council in the Yaroslavl region promised a sign-up bonus of £3,100 and an additional £530 for “every kilometer of progress within the assault teams”.
A total of 10,257 servicemen had been rewarded for destroying 16,001 items of Ukrainian and Western military equipment as of May 31, the ministry said. In the photo: three British-made Challenger 2 tanks in Ukraine
He added that an enemy armored vehicle was worth 50,000 rubles (£467) and a tank 100,000 rubles (£930), he said. Pictured: Two German-made Leopard 2 tanks
Ads offering cash incentives to recruits appeared on government websites and library and high school social media accounts across Russia.
It came as Vladimir Putin desperately tried to avoid another round of unpopular mobilization, which last year saw tens of thousands of men flee the country.
The Yaroslavl advertisement also offered a monthly salary of £2,000 plus £80 a day for “participation in active offensive operations”.
Enlistment offices were working with universities and social services to entice students and the unemployed to join the military, with makeshift recruiting centers popping up in cities and towns.
But Russian analyst Kateryna Stepanenko questioned whether the recruitment drive would succeed.
She told the Telegraph: ‘They have already recruited a significant proportion of people who received financial incentives. And they fought to do it last year.’
Enlistment offices were working with universities and social services to attract students and the unemployed to join the military.
Putin announced Russia’s first mobilization since World War II on September 21 last year.
Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said at the time that an additional 300,000 troops would be recruited.
But the mobilization proceeded in a chaotic manner with many highly publicized cases of convocation notices being sent to the wrong men.
Tens of thousands of men also fled Russia to avoid being recruited for Putin’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
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