They’re so young, so innocent . . . so poorly trained. They are the newest members of the Russian Army, conscripted to fight a war in Ukraine that most of them don’t understand or support, and to kill other young men they’ve never met who — in a better world — might have become their friends.

Some of these boys — a lot of them — will not come back. Others who do return alive will never be truly whole again. The lucky ones will have only temporary physical injuries. And, until two days ago, each of the damaged returnees would have been entitled to a one-time medical payout of three million rubles, or about $30,000.

But someone in Moscow recently came to the conclusion that it wasn’t fair to pay a seriously, permanently injured soldier the same amount as one who only had, say, a non-life-threatening bullet wound that would heal nicely in a matter of a few weeks or months . . . and that perhaps payouts should be based on the severity of the injury. And I don’t see any way to dispute that logic.

But . . .

Remember, this is Russia, where there is always a “but,” and logic doesn’t always prevail.

But did they then increase the amounts on a scale taking into account the nature of the injury, the amount of pain and disability caused, the length of recovery time, the extent of any permanent disability, loss of future income, and the resulting emotional trauma?

Well . . . no, they didn’t. (And as to the last item, I wonder whether the Russian government even acknowledges the existence of PTSD.)

No . . . what they did was leave the $30,000 payment in place for the very worst cases, and decrease the rest to practically nothing: $10,000 in some cases, and as little as $1,000 for others.

The new law sets guidelines for determining the amount of each wounded soldier’s compensation. The problem here is that the definitions are, to state it politely, open to interpretation. Actually, they’re as clear as mud.

For example, “Section I” injuries — those that “endanger their life or health or may cause significant damage to their organs” — include “severe spinal injuries, brain damage, rupturing of genitalia, rib fractures, broken limbs, or damage to organs such as the lungs or kidneys.” [Business Insider, November 14, 2024.]

Worth only $10,000 are less severe “Section II” injuries, deemed to be temporary, such as “minor fractures, concussions, first- and second-degree burns to the eyes, ankle fractures, and gunshot wounds that don’t affect organs.” [Id.]

Those who are wounded and deemed “unfit for duty” are entitled to an additional 2.96 million rubles ($29,600) under an earlier law signed by Putin in March 2022, just after the invasion of Ukraine on February 24th. But how is that determined, and by whom?

To be clear, the foregoing are “medical” payments. The 2022 law also provides for those not fortunate enough to have survived the war. I haven’t seen the law itself, but Business Insider reports that it “entitles those who die in the war to about 7.4 million rubles, or $75,000, as well as 5 million rubles, or $50,000, to their families.” [Id.]

Wait . . . WHAT??!!! Is that $75,000 paid to the corpse? Does it have to be buried with him, while the family is left with just the $50,000? I do hope that was a misprint.

*. *. *

Now, all of that may sound fairly generous, although $30,000 — or even $75,000 — doesn’t go very far today . . . not even in Russia. And the lesser amounts of $10,000 or the measly $1,000 are a joke.

But what strikes me as most unfair is the amount of money Putin — while short-changing his military — has managed to find for the care, feeding and education of all of those babies he has encouraged . . . no, ordered . . . Russia’s young couples to produce to offset the country’s declining population. How is that even going to work with so many young men apparently coming home with ruptured genitalia?

And to what purpose? So that, in 18 years or so, the next generation too can be sent off to some foreign land to have their brains damaged . . . their lungs and kidneys destroyed . . . or their very lives stolen from them?

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
11/15/24