Since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine, a new category of marital conflicts has emerged in Russian courts. Military personnel returning from the frontlines are suing their former partners to recover money they had left them to manage during the war, as reported by Verstka. By analyzing Russian judicial databases, the independent Russian media identified at least 54 lawsuits filed by former soldiers for a total amount of claims exceeding 95 million rubles, just over 1 million euros.
According to the investigation, judgments are multiplying: at least 29 decisions were made in 2025, after the first cases emerged in the first year of the war. “Today, what we see the most are disputes over compensations: mothers, fathers, sisters are fighting in court,” explained a lawyer from the Altai region, interviewed anonymously by Verstka. “Right after, there are demands for paternity recognition for children of soldiers killed in combat. And only then do the cases come where the soldiers themselves turn to the justice system.”
The mechanism is often similar. Before going to fight, soldiers leave their wives or partners with their credit card or give them power of attorney to manage family expenses. When the relationship ends, some soldiers then demand reimbursement of the money spent during their absence, accusing their ex-partners of “unjust enrichment.” They claim that the partners spent their salary, bonuses, or compensations without their consent.
“Everything stems from this unrestricted access to money. She got lost in her greed,” described Pavel, a Crimea resident who won his case against his ex-wife. After fourteen years of marriage, this truck driver mobilized in 2022, pursued her to recover 900,000 rubles (about 9,800 euros). According to him, his wife transferred this sum to her own account from his credit card, where she received a compensation of 3 million rubles (about 32,800 euros) after an injury in combat.
However, judges rarely rule in favor of the military. According to media calculations, they only win about 35% of the cases. Courts often reject these complaints in the name of “family life,” considering that the money benefits the household with the soldier’s tacit agreement. In Kostroma, a port city on the Volga River, a military request was rejected, as the judge deemed marriage expenses, vacations, and sending packages to the front as common expenses.
These procedures are facilitated by the digitization of the Russian justice system. A soldier can now file for divorce or take legal action directly from the frontlines, thanks to the electronic court system and identification through the public services portal. They can then authorize a lawyer or a relative to represent them, with proxies sometimes being signed directly in military units or hospitals.
These cases are part of a broader context. Payments related to the conflict have also given rise to other very controversial phenomena, such as the “black widows,” accused of marrying soldiers to receive significant compensations after their death.
