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Vladimir Putin has increased the salaries of soldiers fighting Ukraine to nearly three times the average salary of his civilian population, British officials have reported.<\/p>\n
While roughly 14 million Russians live under the poverty line, and many well above that threshold live on less than half the average monthly rental payment in the UK, Putin is continuing to divert funds to his full-scale invasion in a desperate bid to continue what has become a war of attrition.<\/p>\n
Roughly 400,00 Russian soldiers are either currently fighting in Ukraine, have been mobilised to subsequently join the ranks or have been killed, or wounded, in action, accounting for less than 0.3 per cent of the population.<\/p>\n
But funds are being disproportionately diverted towards paying these soldiers at the expense of the millions in poverty.<\/p>\n
It is the latest attempt from the Kremlin to encourage Russians to mobilise in Ukraine; earlier this month, Express.co.uk reported that Putin was forcing top universities to accept the underqualified children of soldiers participating in the \u201cspecial military operation\u201d in a twisted attempt to blackmail fathers of fighting age.<\/p>\n
READ MORE <\/strong> Putin’s army claims to kill 50 Ukraine soldiers – as Moscow pummelled by drones[CLAIM] <\/strong><\/p>\n In an update from the British Ministry of Defence, they described military service in the Russian Armed Forces as an \u201cincreasingly lucrative\u201d option.<\/p>\n They noted how a Russian lieutenant, which is a position significantly higher than the rank of private, received at the start of last year less than half of what a junior ranked soldier has been banking in the past few months.<\/p>\n They added that the average salary of a private is now \u201c2.7 times the Russian national average salary\u201d.<\/p>\n Russian salaries are considerably lower than its European neighbours but the MoD reported that the unadjusted equivalent in the United Kingdom would be more than \u00a390,000 a year, which is just under \u00a35,000 a month after tax.<\/p>\n Don’t miss… <\/strong> \u201cIt is highly likely that the salary and additional benefits are a strong incentive for personnel to join up, especially to those from the poorer areas of Russia\u201d, the MoD said.<\/p>\n \u201cHowever, Russia is still unlikely to meet its targets for recruiting volunteers to the ranks.\u201d<\/p>\n Pavel Luzin, an expert on Russian foreign and defence policy at the Centre for European Policy Analysis, told Express.co.uk that the Kremlin is desperately trying to \u201cexpand the room for manoeuvre\u201d in hiring more soldiers to fight in Ukraine.<\/p>\n He said an increase in short term contracts for younger soldiers, as well as contract extensions for troops in the \u201cactive mobilisation reserve\u201d were part of a wider programme to counter the \u201coperative and strategic uncertainty related to the combat situation\u201d.<\/p>\n We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/78\/590x\/secondary\/More-than-14-million-Russians-leave-below-the-poverty-line-4933864.jpg?r=1693385975833\")
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