The UK Defense Ministry said this in an intelligence update on Ukraine, Ukrinform reports.
The ministry reminded that on April 6, Russian President Putin signed two laws to support the Russian Armed Forces personnel fighting in Ukraine and their families. The first law exempted Russian military personnel fighting in Ukraine from paying interest on consumer loans and credit holidays. This follows on from an October 2022 law that exempted those mobilized personnel and other participants of the Russian invasion of Ukraine from accruing penalties for late payments for housing, communal services, and credit card debts.
The second law, signed by Putin, amends Russia's Labor Code and prohibits employers from dismissing widows of Russian service personnel for one year from the date of the husband's death.
“The Kremlin has likely instituted these laws in hopes of appeasing Russian service personnel, financially incentivising more recruits to join the fight in exchange for state benefits and to limit criticism from the wives of deceased service personnel. Whilst any payment holidays may cost the Russian federal government little in the short term, they are likely to have long term implications for the Russian economic situation and outlook,” the report says.
As reported by Ukrinform, in 2024, the Russian authorities seek to recruit about 400,000 contract service personnel in 2024 to sustain its forces in Ukraine, which have suffered huge losses.
