Overview

• Investigators identified more than three dozen servicemen who secured one-off payments of about 3 million roubles each, with total claims reported above 200 million roubles.
• Guard Colonel Artyom Gorodilov and Lieutenant Colonel Konstantin Frolov were named as alleged ringleaders, admitted soliciting staged shootings, and entered pre-trial cooperation agreements.
• Frolov also faces bribery and illegal weapons charges and had been showcased in Russian state media as a decorated “Z” figure.
• Authorities rejected requests by the accused to return to combat, and the staged injuries brought paid leave and preferential medical treatment in addition to cash payouts.
• A November 2024 decree reworked compensation by reducing awards for less severe injuries, and Gorodilov is already under U.S. sanctions tied to the Bucha killings.