'Black widows': how Russian women are cashing in on soldiers' deaths through marriages of convenience

A fraudulent scheme is gaining traction in Russia in which women marry servicemen just days before they are deployed to the front — or shortly before they die of their wounds — in order to claim state compensation after the soldier's death. CNN reports this, citing dozens of documented cases from across the country.

The investigation was sparked by the story of Maria, a resident of St. Petersburg who lost her 59-year-old father, Yuri. Military officials told her that the man had been wounded on the Ukrainian front and died of his injuries. Maria had had no idea her father had volunteered for the war — and while arranging his funeral, she received another shock: it emerged that two days before being sent to the front, her father had married a woman 22 years his junior, whom Maria had never even met.

As the deceased man's wife, this woman automatically became his closest relative and thus entitled to compensation. According to CNN, for every soldier killed, the Russian state pays the closest relatives a one-off payment starting at five million rubles — roughly 1.3 million Czech crowns. "That's a very substantial sum by Russian standards," Maria noted.

The nurse who married five times

Maria was not the only one to suspect that someone was profiting from a loved one's death. In recent months, according to the broadcaster, Russian society has been rattled by stories of men marrying just days before deployment — or literally on their deathbeds.

One particularly striking case involves a nurse at a military hospital who married five different soldiers under her care, one after another. Each time, the wedding took place just a couple of days before the wounded man died.

Russian authorities have actively encouraged servicemen to marry since February 2022, the start of the war against Ukraine. According to CNN, besides potentially boosting morale, this fits with the state's promotion of "traditional values," a cause personally championed by President Vladimir Putin. Conscripts eager to marry quickly also get a helping hand from the Orthodox Church, which is willing to waive the mandatory announcement period ahead of a wedding in such cases.

A realtor's advice — and recruiting orphans

One realtor in the Siberian city of Tomsk reportedly advised female clients that such a marriage was a way to get their own home. "How can a 30-year-old woman get her own apartment? It's simple: find a soldier serving in the special military operation, and after he dies, collect eight million rubles — more than two million crowns," she said.

Suspicions have also emerged that some servicemen — mostly senior officers with the power to send soldiers on dangerous missions — help "black widows" in exchange for a cut. One case in Primorsky Krai caused a major stir in Russia, where two officers and a military accountant allegedly targeted vulnerable recruits, such as orphans, matched them with "attractive brides," and then, once the men were married, sent them to extremely high-risk frontline positions where they had almost no chance of survival.

The issue of "black widows" has even reached the State Duma. According to lawmaker Leonid Slutsky, leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, families of soldiers who took part in the special military operation need protection from "brazen criminals" — the so-called black widows, as well as financial and phone scammers preying on compensation recipients. That said, the deputy's interest in the topic is hardly disinterested: State Duma elections are due to take place in Russia this September.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz