These German tanks, mobilized during the Ukrainian counter-offensive, are in the sights of the Russian army. More than 10,000 soldiers have already received bonuses for destroying Western equipment, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.
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It was on his hospital bed where he is being treated in the suburbs of Moscow that assistant grenade thrower Andrei Kravtsov was presented with a diploma and a bonus of one million rubles, around 10,000 euros, for having destroyed a German Leopard tank, used by the Ukrainian army during its counter-offensive. In Russia, the Ministry of Defense has opened the hunt for Leopard tanks. Western weapons are in the crosshairs of the Kremlin, which regularly threatens Europe and the United States because of their military support for Ukraine.
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Andrei Kravtsov has a scarred face, he lost his right arm in this attack, but it is with a smile that he welcomes Senator Alexander Kareline, former triple Olympic champion in Greco-Roman wrestling, to his room, accompanied by the cameras of television. “I only learned at the hospital that it was a German Leopard tank, says the soldier. To be honest, I didn’t go there for the millions and awards, I’m a patriot, I love my country.”
30,000 euros for an American rocket launcher
Presented as the first Russian soldier to have destroyed a Leopard tank, Andrei Kravtsov was even entitled to an additional bonus offered by the Union of Siberian Entrepreneurs. But, before him, more than 10,000 soldiers have already received bonuses for having destroyed Western equipment, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense. Bonuses that can range from 500 euros for a small armored vehicle up to 30,000 euros for an American Himars rocket launcher system. The equivalent of six years’ salary for a middle-class Russian.