Vladimir Putin haemorrhaging money over payouts to Ukraine war dead reach £47bn | World | News

Russia’s illegal war against Ukraine recently reached a major milestone in that it has now been going on for longer than World War 1. The war has taken a toll on both Ukraine and Russia with hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians dead and billions of pounds worth of buildings destroyed.

However, after Donald Trump took a warmer approach to relations with Russia, it looked like Ukraine might be forced towards a humiliating peace deal.

That has not happened. While there is no sign as yet of Putin looking like he will sue for peace, there is another financial factor to consider. The financial cost to Putin of the soldiers who are dying fighting for Russia, something that is costing his economy billions of pounds.

According to the Financial Times, each confirmed death of Russian soldier results in 14m ruble (£134,000) federal pay out. An estimated 352,000 Russian soldiers have been killed. As a result, that works out at a staggering 4,998,400,000,000 rubles, that’s four trillion.

Based on the current conversion rate between rubles and pounds, this means the death pay outs are costing Putin’s economy around £47billion; and this is without including pay outs to the families of soldiers who are injured.

Meanwhile, it has been reported that the situation for Russian soldiers on the frontline is so deadly that, according to Russian military bloggers, the average life expectancy of a new Russian fighter is around 20 to 35 minutes. This has been driven by advancements in drone technology and Ukraine’s development of an effective kill zone on the frontline, Foreign Policy said in a report.

This crippling figure also comes at a time when, because of Ukraine’s strikes, Russian citizens are beginning to feel the impact of fuel shortages caused by those attacks on oil refineries.

In areas such as Moscow and the occupied Crimea, petrol stations have introduced rationing, limited sales to as little as 20 litres per vehicle. The situation has become so acute that Putin has had to acknowledge the issue.

In a statement he said the attacks were causing a “certain shortage”. Putin told a meeting: “You’re well aware that problems persist for both motorists and businesses. Unfortunately, there are still queues at petrol stations, and finding the right grade of petrol isn’t always easy.”

Later, in a rare television interview, he added that the attacks were “obviously creating problems” and that they were “creating problems”.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has also commented on the strikes. “Taking to Twitter/X on June 28 after another successful attack on oil refineries he said: “We continue our operations that weaken Russia’s ability to wage this war.

“Each of our long-range sanctions means fewer resources serving Russia’s war machine, and another step toward peace. We will continue to respond to Russian terror. I thank our warriors for these results! I am grateful to everyone who helps us.”