Inheritance of grief: The battle over Russia's funeral benefits

Relatives of Russians who died in the war often find themselves embroiled in real battles over the substantial sums of money made available to families following a soldier's death, known as funeral benefits – reports Biełsat TV. "Funeral" benefits include a one-off payment of around 5 million rubles, approximately £49,000.

Biełsat reports based on findings from its Russian-language portal Vot tak in an article titled "The Battle for Funeral Benefits" that in courts across Russia, widows jostle for millions of rubles with their in-laws, and mothers with ex-husbands who left the family a long time ago. The money is keenly divided even by aunts and grandparents. As the authors note, many of these disputing relatives hail from small villages where poverty is rife, and the prospect of coming into money represents not just a chance to get rich but often the means to pay off debts.

Oksana took her ex-husband to court for 6 million rubles (roughly £55,000), and Evgenia, mourning the loss of her father and step-father to the war, campaigned for the law to be changed to allow adult children to receive a one-off benefit of 5 million rubles (around £49,000).

The Russian state promotes participation in the war via various payments for soldiers, including funeral benefits and offering relatives significant sums after a soldier's death. For many Russian citizens, the amounts involved are unimaginable through regular, honest employment and often spark disputes among relatives over entitlement to these state benefits.

Evgenia, alongside others in similar situations, waged a legal challenge to alter regulations that denied benefits to adult children of the deceased. She reported that her father had gone to war to support her family financially, only for the benefit to be allocated to her aunt, her father's sister. Thanks to Evgenia's and her group's efforts, the issue escalated, leading to a change in the legislation.

Meanwhile, numerous mothers of Russian soldiers assert their rights to posthumous benefits over fathers who played no part in raising their children or providing child support. Biełsat highlights Oksana's case, who secured a victory after two years of litigation against her former husband for the funds for their son, who was killed in the conflict. However, unless the father has been officially stripped of parental rights, denying benefits requires legal action to demonstrate his abandonment and lack of involvement in child-rearing.

According to Russian law, families of soldiers who died are entitled to an insurance sum (just over 3 million rubles – around £27,000) and a one-off benefit (5.5 million rubles – approximately £50,000), compensation for the Order of Courage (equivalent to five times the soldier's salary), and additional social benefits (including pension supplements and allowances for utilities and medication).

For more than two years, the topic most discussed in Russian online forums and groups for soldiers' relatives has been how to divide the funds received from the state after a soldier's death: military salaries, insurance payouts, and "funeral" benefits.

In March 2022, Vladimir Putin enacted a decree for a one-off payment of 5 million rubles (about £49,000) to family members of those killed in the war. At the start of 2024, this amount was reassessed and increased by 5.5%. The funds are distributed equally among spouses, parents, legal guardians, and dependents of the deceased.

Until recently, adult children (excluding those in full-time education or with a disability) were excluded from "funeral" benefits. However, on 8 April 2024, Putin signed a decree allowing all deceased soldiers' children to claim the 5 million rubles "funeral" benefit - or a portion thereof if it must be shared with other family members.