Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree granting debt relief to new military recruits as Moscow continues its efforts to strengthen its armed forces amid Mossov’s invasion of Ukraine.
Under the decree, debts of up to 10 million rubles (€119,646, $139,273) will be canceled for recruits who signed contracts after May 1 this year.
What else says Putin’s debt relief order?
The decree signed on Monday covers not only the recruits themselves but also their spouses.
To receive loan waiver, the contract with the Army must be for at least one year.
The contract must also be for “carrying out the tasks of a special military operation,” the latter term used by the Kremlin for a full-scale invasion of its neighbor.
The loan should also have been repaid before May 1.
According to the Russian Cyan real estate database, a one-room apartment of 35 square meters (377 sq ft) in Moscow costs around 10 million rubles.
A series of perks for recruits to Ukraine
For more than four years, Russia has already been offering attractive salaries to men signing up to fight in the offensive forces against Ukraine.
Putin has also called for Ukrainian war veterans to be given prestigious positions in Russia upon returning from the front.
People with experience should also be given preference when applying to university or colleges of further education.
Russia’s economy is now on a war footing, and military needs take priority over other sectors.
Law on armed deployment abroad for the protection of Russian citizens
On Monday, Putin also signed a law allowing the deployment of armed forces outside Russia to protect Russian citizens facing justice in other countries, Spanish news agency EFE reports.
According to EFE, the law would allow Moscow to intervene militarily in third countries where the freedom of Russian citizens is threatened by judicial procedures or arrests carried out without Russia’s permission or outside international law.
Andrey Kartapolov, head of the Russian parliament’s defense committee, said the law would allow Moscow to intervene in cases such as that of Russian architect Alexander Butyagin.
Butygin was arrested in Poland in December 2025 for drilling at Kiev’s request in Crimea, which Russia illegally “annexed” from Ukraine in 2014.
He was released in April as part of a prisoner swap between Ukraine and Russia.