The UK Defense Intelligence Explains Why Corruption Haunts the russian Military
Following a review of over a thousand military bribery cases, on January 30, 2024, russian newspaper Verstka published an article on corruption in the russian Army. Their research identified patterns of corruption and a system of bribes used by russian servicemembers and their commanders. Bribes were given or demanded for various services such as: leave, certification of physical training, military rank, driver licenses and avoiding disciplinary action against soldiers for using smartphones or who get drunk, the UK Defense Intelligence reports.
After February 2022 the set of services was expanded to include injury certificates, awards for participating in the war and avoiding being sent on a combat mission. This activity can be very lucrative for corrupt officers. Verstka published the going rates for these services, ranging from 40,000 roubles ($440) to avoid being sent to the front line up to 1 million roubles ($11000) for an injury certificate.
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Corruption has long been a problem in the Armed Forces of russia. The journalist Dmitry Kholodov investigated military corruption in the 1990s and was killed in Moscow by a bomb in a briefcase in October 1994. It is likely that corruption significantly undermines the effectiveness of the russian military. There is only a remote chance that significant progress will be made in reducing corruption levels.
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