Russia Sees Surge in 'Black Widow' Marriage Scams Targeting Combat Compensation

Marriage scams targeting the massive compensation payouts given to families of fallen soldiers in the war in Ukraine are on the rise in Russia, CNN reported.

When a Russian soldier is killed in action, their immediate family receives a lump-sum compensation of at least 5 million rubles, approximately 88.4 million won in Korean currency.

However, this system is increasingly being exploited by fraudsters known as "Black Widows."

These women enter into sham marriages, send their newly wed husbands to the battlefield, and collect the compensation payouts while excluding other relatives.

Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Kremlin has actively encouraged marriage to boost the morale of new recruits and motivate them to fight.

Authorities have helped recruits marry quickly, bypassing standard waiting periods, and have even hosted mass weddings organized by local governments to streamline the process.

However, exploiting these institutional loopholes, crimes have emerged where individuals rake in huge payouts in a short period of time given the extremely low survival rates of soldiers on the front lines.

CNN highlighted the case of a woman named Maria, who was left in shock after learning that her 59-year-old father had married a woman 22 years his junior without the family's knowledge, enlisted just two days later, and was killed on the front lines.

The father's new wife, whom Maria had never met, became the legal next of kin and qualified to receive the combat compensation.

The apartment where the father lived had already been sold, and the legal widow had vanished.

Among the prominent "Black Widow" cases reported in Russian media is one where a nurse working at a military hospital was fired on suspicion of marrying five wounded soldiers before they died in order to collect their compensation.

There was also a case where military officials allegedly conspired with women to send newly enlisted husbands into dangerous missions in order to split the compensation payouts after their deaths.

A real estate agent was also indicted and sentenced to community service after promoting marriage to recruits slated for front-line deployment as a means to acquire real estate on a podcast.

As the war drags on and severely impacts the lives of ordinary Russians, these crimes are sparking public outrage, with growing calls for a government crackdown, CNN reported.

Leonid Slutsky, a member of the Russian State Duma, stated that "Black Widow" crimes have reached a critical level, urging that "the families of participants in the special military operation must be protected from brazen criminals, financial and phone scammers eyeing compensation, and predators."

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.