When a Russian soldier is killed, the military offers a sum beginning at 5,000,000 rubles – or around £45,000. The benefit – meant to support the soldier’s family – is now being weaponised by scammers, dubbed as ‘black widows’, who marry the soldiers only to secure money when they die. One woman working at a military hospital was fired after marrying five soldiers before they died from their injuries to receive the money. The so-called ‘black widows’ have been slammed (Picture: AP)‘Hence the booming industry in “Black Widows,” some of whom are on their third soldier already because they’ve made a habit of it. But becoming a hero in Russia doesn’t just mean being patriotic, being imperialistic, being a kind of Orthodox Christian crusader.