in Ukraine, the heavy gaze of society on the widows of soldiers killed in combat

A part of Ukrainian society criticizes the financial compensation granted to the wives of soldiers killed in the conflict against Russia. Franceinfo met one of these widows.

It was September 8, 2023. During that evening, Olena’s husband was killed by mortar fire. Volodymir, a Ukrainian soldier engaged in the war against Russia, would turn 40 the following month. Since the start of the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022, more than 70,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed at the front according to American estimates, while kyiv has never given official figures. For the widows of these soldiers, beyond mourning, they have to confront a part of Ukrainian society which finds that the financial compensation they receive is too high. Franceinfo met one of them.

A few hours before Volodymir’s death, the couple were still exchanging messages. “I wrote to him : ‘why are you not responding ?’ He answers me: everything is fine. I ask him: ‘Where are you?’ I wrote to him: ‘Can I call you for a minute to hear your voice? I didn’t have time to tell you I love you.’ Then he writes to me: ‘I love you too'”, says Olena. Volodymir then leaves to fight, then there is silence. The couple married last spring.

“I saw his corpse, otherwise I still wouldn’t believe it”

It’s a shock two days later, when an officer comes to Olena’s house to mechanically read an official document. Then, there is the wait in the morgue, the body in front of her and the funeral of the man who shared her life for nine years. “I’m very grateful to the unit, they brought his body back. I read stories of women who couldn’t bury their husbands. I saw his corpse, otherwise I still wouldn’t believe it,” she confides.

“Nothing will bring him back to me.”

Olena, a Ukrainian widow

at franceinfo

At the funeral, she learns that war widows receive financial compensation. She will receive around 370 000 euros, a fortune in a country where the average income is 365 euros.

“I haven’t received anything yet. I swear to God, I don’t care. All I want is to have a beautiful monument built on his grave.”she assures. “I don’t tell anyone about this money, only my mother-in-law and my sister know about it. I don’t need anything, they would do better to help the wounded who return mutilated from the front”she continues.

Olena also wants to make substantial donations to the army with this sum. Because for her, the military outcome is the only option: “If it’s for the Russians to stay where they are, why would the guys keep dying? Why would my love sacrifice his life?“, she asks.

The very high amount of these financial compensations arouses controversy. For soldiers who died on the front before 2022, their widows received 25 times less money.