Family Of Russian National Guard Killed In Ukraine Received Rp1.17 Billion From Kremlin Compensation

JAKARTA - President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree ordering the payment of 5 million rubles (approximately IDR 1.17 billion) to the families of members of the Russian National Guard who died in Ukraine and Syria.

Putin has announced a compensation scheme for the families of dead and injured soldiers.

The decision is an official acknowledgment that members of the Russian National Guard, known as Rosgvardia, are among the victims of the war in Ukraine which Russia describes as a special military operation.

The Russian National Guard, which reports directly to Putin, was formed in 2016 to fight terrorism and organized crime. The troops have been used at home to crack down on peaceful anti-government protests.

Western analysts have interpreted the troop deployment from the early stages of the war in Ukraine as a sign of a misplaced belief that Russia will soon seize major cities, including the capital Kiev, where Rosgvardia could then be used to maintain order.

In fact, Russian troops were pushed back from the Ukrainian capital--Kiev and its second city--Kharkiv. Russian troops are now focused on heavy fighting in the eastern Donbas region.

Russia has not updated its casualty figures since March 25, when it said 1,351 soldiers were killed and 3,825 injured.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian government and Western countries say the number of victims has now multiplied.