Ukraine: Russian firm offers cash bounties to destroy or capture Western tanks
- Fores, in the energy sector, said it will pay US$72,000 to the first Russian soldier to destroy one of the tanks, and US$7,200 for subsequent attacks
- The company also said it would pay US$215,000 bounty on Western-made fighter jets, if ever delivered; Ukraine is expecting to receive foreign tanks in the coming months
A Russian company said it will offer five million roubles (US$72,000) in cash to the first soldiers who destroy or capture Western-made tanks in Ukraine, after the Kremlin vowed Russian forces would wipe out any Western tanks shipped to the invaded nation.
The United States, Germany and several other European countries are lining up to send Kyiv dozens of advanced combat tanks over the next few months to help boost Ukraine’s military capacity as the war approaches the 12-month mark.
The decision has been criticised by the Kremlin as a dangerous escalation, and spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the tanks would “burn” on the front lines.
Now a Russian company – Fores, a Urals-based firm which makes proppants (additives added to drilling fluid) for the energy industry – is offering cash payments to Russian servicemen who “capture or destroy” German-made Leopard 2 or US-made Abrams tanks.
The company said it will pay five million roubles to the first Russian soldier to destroy one of the tanks, and 500,000 roubles (US$7,200) for all subsequent attacks. Echoing language used by Russian officials and pro-war state TV hosts, Fores said Nato was pumping Ukraine with an “unlimited” amount of arms and escalating the conflict.
It also said it would pay a 15-million rouble (US$215,000) bounty on Western-made fighter jets, should they ever be delivered to Ukraine.
