War in Ukraine: Wounded Russian Soldiers Returned to the Front

Russia does not officially release data on the number of soldiers killed or wounded in the war against Ukraine. This information is confidential and until now the authorities have only made occasional statements about casualties.

Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Protection Alexei Vovchenko said in October 2023 that 54 percent of seriously wounded Russian soldiers had at least one limb amputated, and that a fifth of them required amputation of their upper limbs.

In late 2024, Deputy Defense Minister Anna Tsivilyova, described by independent Russian media as a relative of Russian President Vladimir Putin, estimated the total number of war invalids at 110,000.

 

Wounded soldiers returned to battle

 

Earlier this year, several videos were shared almost simultaneously on the Russian social network VKontakte showing Russian military commanders returning wounded soldiers to fight in Ukraine. In one case, the soldiers were in a forest, and several were walking on crutches.

In another, a military policeman can be seen confronting two masked men, one of whom was leaning on a cane. He threatened them with sexual violence.

Authorities later confirmed the incident and said the man, who had been torturing his comrades with a baton and an electric shock, had been arrested. It turned out that the wounded were soldiers who had complained when their commanders wanted to send them back to the front.

In an official speech, Deputy Defense Minister Tsivlyova said that about 96 percent of wounded soldiers were returning to the front and that the idea was to do so as quickly as possible. She said this was possible "thanks to the modernization of field hospitals."

This approach could partly reflect the shortage of personnel at the front and the high casualties in the Russian army.

"I assume that about six out of ten wounded soldiers suffered serious injuries," a veteran who asked not to be named told DW. He was recently discharged due to his injuries, but refrained from revealing details for security reasons. "The main thing is that my arms and legs are intact," he said, adding that he is currently waiting for a one-off payment of several million rubles.

He said his disability pension of 22,000 rubles (equivalent to about 220 euros or $228) is low. "I became unfit for work at the age of 36 and lost my health, but what can I do? I served my country and I have no regrets," he added.

He suspected that the army might be sending wounded soldiers to the front to punish them for drug-related crimes or faking injuries.

 

Complaints about lower compensation

 

Recently, there has been a lot of online discontent over the latest presidential decree, which reduced one-time payments for minor injuries from three million rubles to one million. Compensation for other, less serious injuries can no longer exceed 100,000 rubles.

 

There have been complaints on VKontakte that doctors are downplaying injuries. A soldier named Oleg wrote online that doctors had initially classified his injury as moderately severe. “On the day I was discharged, it suddenly became a minor wound. They said there were new lists and categories now,” he said.

Former mercenaries from the private Wagner Group, one of the most brutal combat units on the Russian side, have also complained that the Russian state does not recognize them as participants in the war against Ukraine.

One named Pavel wrote on VKontakte that he could no longer walk because of his injuries and that he was “left to his fate.” He said he received a disability pension from the state of about 10,000 rubles, but was denied payment from the army.

Some beneficiaries complained about the high cost of the prostheses. One woman from Perm said her brother, who fought in the war, could not afford the five million rubles needed for high-quality prostheses. She said social benefits cover only a small part of the cost.

 

Disabled people isolated from mainstream society

 

Historian Aglaya Asheshova, who is based at the University Library of Languages and Civilizations (BULAC) in Paris, France, told DW that one major problem Russia will face after the war is the reintegration of disabled veterans into society.

The expert on post-war societies explained that in most countries, people who became disabled through war were largely isolated from the mainstream. She speculated that in Russia's case, authorities could hand over the care of disabled veterans to the regions, which would further complicate the reintegration process due to limited resources.

Several regions have reported shortages of certain prosthetics due to international sanctions against the Russian Federation, which is driving up prices and lengthening waiting times.

Former Russian military officer Nikita Tretyakov wrote on his Telegram channel that disabled veterans from the war often faced unemployment because few people wanted to hire them. He described the case of a former soldier who was seriously wounded and was refused a job as a sales consultant. During the interview, he was told that there were concerns about his mental state because he had participated in the war in Ukraine. According to sociologist Anna Kuleshova, there are large differences in attitudes towards veterans in Russian society. This is partly due to the political polarization of the population, she told DW, but there were also regional differences: "Not everyone sees war invalids as heroes, but rather views them with suspicion because people are aware, both from the news and from personal experience, of cases of soldiers using violence against civilians." A psychiatrist who continues to work in Russia and therefore wishes to remain anonymous told DW that, despite their injuries, most of those who fought in the war are convinced that it was justified. He said it is a defense mechanism, to protect the psyche, that can be observed in veterans of all wars.

"It allows them to function effectively and survive in extreme conditions," he explained, adding that returning to civilian life has always been a difficult process, partly because men no longer feel needed as they did at the front.