Russia's Defense Ministry Drafts Plan to Delay December Pay for Some Troops Until January: Forces Fighting in Ukraine Would Still Be Paid by December 25
Russia's Defense Ministry has drafted an order that would move December 2026 salary payments for most service members from the customary deadline of December 25 to between January 11 and 21, 2027, the independent Russian outlet Verstka reported on October 30, in reporting later followed by Bloomberg and others. If adopted as written, it would be the first time in at least 18 years that Russian troops did not receive their December pay before the New Year.
The draft carves out an exception for the Joint Group of Forces fighting in Ukraine: those personnel would still receive their December pay by December 25, and December bonuses for contract soldiers would also still be paid in December. The delay would therefore fall mainly on garrison troops, support units and other personnel outside the combat grouping. Under rules adopted in 2019, Russian military salaries are normally paid between the 10th and 20th of each month, with the December payment due by December 25.
The draft is still in public discussion, which runs until November 13, after which the Defense Ministry can make a final decision; the draft itself gives no reason for the change. Bloomberg linked the discussion to Russia's widening federal budget deficit as the war against Ukraine nears its fifth year, but that connection remains a media assessment rather than an officially stated reason.
Beyond pay timing, several Russian regions have this year cut lump-sum payments to new contract recruits and to families of soldiers killed in action: the Ulyanovsk region's payment to a killed soldier's family has fallen from one million rubles to 50,000 rubles over the course of the year, and the Saratov region cut its payment from one million to 100,000 rubles in late September.
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Source: Bloomberg
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：莫斯科 Frunzenskaya 河岸的俄罗斯国防部大楼群资料图。CC BY 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: The Russian Defense Ministry complex on Frunzenskaya Embankment in Moscow, file photo. CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
