Russian soldier receives vegetables as compensation for war injuries: Report

A Russian soldier, heavily wounded in the war against Ukraine, received two buckets of carrots and a bag of onions from the government as compensation, a report carried by independent investigative outlet Mozhem Obyasnit (We Can Explain) has claimed.

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The publication reportedly interviewed the soldier's wife for the story who said the family thought they would receive money for the trauma his husband had gone through but instead all they got was vegetables.

The soldier identified as Oleg Rybkin, 45, was mobilised from Russia's Volgograd region to fight in Ukraine in September 2022. In June 2023, Rybkin found himself in combat near the village of Robotyne in Zaporizhzhia Oblast - the epicentre of the counteroffensive operation launched by Ukrainian troops.

During one of the operations, Rybkin was wounded in the abdomen, liver and kidneys while his right knee joint was destroyed. A heavily injured Rybkin was then taken to a local hospital in Ukraine where he underwent abdominal surgery with the military medical commission deeming him "temporarily unfit" to fight. Later, he was sent to Saint Petersburg for rehabilitation.

According to Irina Rybakina, her husband remains in extreme pain and needs knee surgery for which no compensation has been provided up until now. She said the military command doesn't want to be forced to pay the 3 million rubles ($32,730) in compensation and a lifelong pension.

"He has severe pain, his knee cannot straighten, and he cannot walk without crutches. He's on painkillers and sleeping pills," Irina Rybkina told the outlet.

"What vegetables, what gifts, do I need to replace my husband's joint and get him discharged!" she added.

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Similar instances

Oleg's case is not the only one to come out of Russia amid the ongoing war. In October, a Russian corporal named Khizri Kurazov was denied standard compensation for his war injuries as they were inflicted by his own comrades instead of Ukrainian forces.

Kurazov served as a corporal of the military unit 3737 of the Russian Guard and got wounded in Ukraine by a mine accidentally detonated by a fellow unit soldier.

The case went to court which decided that there was no ground for the corporal to receive the lump-sum payment, with Kurazov's commander ordering a refusal of the claim.

Kurazov further appealed his case at the southern district military court in Rostov-on-Don but a panel of three military court judges — Viktor Alekseevich Kostin, Dmitry Viktorovich Merkulov, and Magomedbasir Gapurovich Shuaipov upheld the original decision.

Disclaimer: A number of claims and counterclaims are being made on the Ukraine-Russia war on the ground and online. While WION takes utmost care to accurately and responsibly report ongoing developments, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos.

(With inputs from agencies)