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

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

It was September 8, 2023. That evening, Olena’s husband was killed by mortar fire. Volodymyr, a Ukrainian soldier engaged in the war against Russia, turns 40 next month. Since the start of the Russian offensive on February 24, 2022, more than 70,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed on the frontlines, according to American estimates, while Kiev has never provided official figures. For the widows of these soldiers, beyond mourning, they have to deal with a part of Ukrainian society that finds that the financial compensation they receive is too high. Franceinfo met one of them.

A few hours before Volodymyr’s death, the couple was still exchanging messages. “I wrote it : ‘Why don’t you answer?’ He answers me: everything is good. 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 wrote me: ‘I love you too’, says Olena. Volodymyr then leaves to fight, then is silent. The couple married last spring.

“I saw his corpse, or I still wouldn’t believe him”

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

“Nothing will bring him back to me.”

Olena, 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 found anything yet. I swear to God, I don’t care. I just want 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 returned from the front mutilated.”She continues.

Olena also wants to donate this amount to the army. Because for him, a military outcome is the only option: “If the Russians are to stay where they are, why will boys continue to die? Why would my love sacrifice her life?“, she asks.

This very high amount of financial compensation raises controversy. For soldiers who died on the front before 2022, their widows received 25 times less money.