Russia is having trouble making the promised payments for mobilised soldiers.
A social media video that has gone viral shows several mobilised Russian soldiers confronting their superiors over unpaid wages at their training facility in Russia. The soldiers claimed in the video that they are yet to receive the promised payment and that they would not fight in Ukraine until they get the payment.
The video features English subtitles and was shared on Twitter by user Dmitri. The soldiers claim in the video that their families did not receive the 300,000 rubles (about $5,000) that they were promised for enlisting in the Russian army.
According to a statement by the Institute for the Study of War, Russian officials have been promising volunteers and men who have been mobilised pay that is more than twice the national average.
The Russian economy will likely continue to be strained for decades as long as the Kremlin continues to rely significantly on providing financial incentives for Russians to fight in Ukraine. According to a financial expert who spoke to Reuters, the Kremlin might have to spend between $14.6 billion and $32 billion (900 billion to 3 trillion rubles) over the following six months on payments to men who have been sent to war.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian parliament on Thursday approved the 2023 draft budget with a record deficit of $38 billion, a spending plan that the prime minister said was intended to help bring victory against Russia closer.
Senior lawmakers said the budget was overwhelmingly approved, with 295 members of parliament voting for it and none opposing it. Thirty-five abstained.
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"Do everything to bring victory closer. It was with this philosophy that we drafted this budget," Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said after the vote.
He had said earlier this week that it would be a "budget for victory," setting aside more than 1 trillion hryvnias ($27.08 billion) for the armed forces and national security following Russia's Feb. 24 invasion.
Other key expenses would be pensions, healthcare, and education, he said.
(With inputs from agencies)