Russia’s Defense Ministry drafts plan to delay December soldiers’ pay until January

Russia’s Defense Ministry has prepared a draft order that would push service members’ December salaries into the new year, Meduza reported on Friday, citing the independent outlet Verstka. If approved, it would be the first such postponement in at least 18 years.

What the draft envisions

Under existing rules, military personnel receive pay for the preceding month between the 10th and the 20th. December’s money is due by December 25. The ministry now proposes moving that payment to the window of January 11 to 21 of the following year, according to the report.

Meduza wrote that the change could take effect as early as this year if the order is adopted.

The draft contains carve-outs. Personnel of the Joint Group of Forces, the formation fighting in Ukraine, would continue to be paid under the old timetable, before the New Year. Contract soldiers are treated separately as well, since in December they are meant to receive a bonus alongside their regular salary.

A break with long practice

Verstka, which examined official records, found that Russian troops have been paid for December before the calendar year ended since at least 2008. The outlet suggested the same custom probably held in Soviet times, Meduza said.

The proposal comes against a backdrop of tightening payouts elsewhere in the military support system. Meduza noted that authorities in Stavropol Krai were reported a day earlier to have decided to defer until 2027 certain payments to relatives of those killed or wounded in the war. Such payments are normally made within five business days after a claim is approved, but officials may hold them back when the regional Labor Ministry’s account has insufficient funds.

Meduza added that several regions have been reducing payments to the families of the dead in recent months. In the Ulyanovsk region the amounts were cut by a factor of 20, and in the Saratov region by a factor of 10.

What remains unclear

Meduza’s account does not say when the Defense Ministry might sign the order or whether the draft will be altered. The outlet did not report an official explanation for the proposed delay, and it was not stated whether the ministry has commented. The reported exemption for the Joint Group of Forces suggests the measure is aimed at personnel outside the combat grouping, though the report does not spell out the reasoning.

For now, the plan remains a draft, and its timing hinges on whether it is adopted before the end of the year.