Marriage War Scams Grow

Russian lawmakers have proposed legislation targeting so-called “black widows” – women accused of entering sham marriages with soldiers fighting in Ukraine to claim state benefits.

The move comes after a court in Bryansk Oblast ruled in summer 2025 that a woman’s marriage to a soldier killed in action was fraudulent, the first ruling of its kind. An investigation by the independent outlet Okno detailed how fraudsters are exploiting Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine to profit from soldiers’ salaries, death benefits, and property rights.

One such case occurred in Krasnaya Gora, a village in Bryansk Oblast. Sergei Khandozhko, a man with a criminal record who had never served in the military, signed a contract with Russia’s Defense Ministry in October 2023. The day before, he married 37-year-old Yelena Sokolova, who worked at the local military recruitment office.

According to Khandozhko’s brother, Sokolova married Sergei solely to access his monthly salary of nearly R200,000 (about $2,500). He said she never registered the marriage stamp in her passport, lived with another man after Sergei’s deployment, and failed to visit him when he was wounded.

“She got him drunk, signed all the documents, and sent him to Kursk,” his brother told Okno. “He didn’t want to go to the front. He said he wouldn’t leave until I came back.”

In July 2025, a court annulled the marriage, citing evidence that the couple never lived together or maintained a household.

Another scheme described by Okno centers on a family in the Far East's Primorsky Krai. Vasily Vypritskikh, 24, grew up in state care after his mother lost parental rights. In 2024, local entrepreneur Darya Polishchuk, whose husband Alexander served in the 60th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade, allegedly lured Vypritskikh into signing a military contract and marrying 38-year-old brigade officer Ksenia Skryabina.

Investigators say Skryabina gained access to Vypritskikh’s salary and a state-provided apartment in Ussuriysk worth R1.5 million (approximately $19,000). She and the Polishchuks also would have collected a R12 million ($150,000) insurance payout were Vypritskikh killed. His whereabouts remain unknown; relatives in brigade chat groups say communication with soldiers has been sporadic.

The Polishchuks allegedly used a similar approach to target 32-year-old former inmate Sergei Ivanyuk, promising him a rear-echelon posting before arranging his marriage to Natalia Sudareva, an employee of the Defense Ministry. Sudareva had previously assisted in processing financial paperwork for Vypritskikh. On January 13, 2025, she married Ivanyuk, convincing him the marriage would help safeguard his money while enabling her to claim military spouse benefits and secure a university place for her daughter.

Photographs circulating on pro-war Telegram channels in February show Alexander Polishchuk in handcuffs. Authorities have not confirmed arrests of other suspects.

According Okno, at the end of 2024, another married couple was arrested in Primorye for convincing a laborer to marry a 63-year-old acquaintance; after his death, they collected his death benefits. Notably, in May 2025, a criminal case was opened in Khanty-Mansiysk against three men and one woman. According to investigators, one of the suspects worked in the police and searched for information about single men in difficult financial situations through databases. A member of the group introduced them to fictitious women and then convinced them to sign a contract, having issued a power of attorney to receive funds for his wife.

Despite rising cases, some officials doubt a new law would be effective. Nina Ostanina, a senior lawmaker in the State Duma, said sham marriages are a moral issue rather than a legal one. “Public condemnation is the only deterrent,” she said. “You can’t legislate morality.”