When Russian soldiers get killed in the war, their spouses or closest relatives receive lump sums of money starting at 5 million rubles ($64,000) and sometimes exceeding 8 million rubles ($100,000). Ever since the Russia-Ukraine war began, Russian media have been reporting about so-called ‘black widows,’ women who approach and trick men into marriage just so they can then send them off to war and cash their compensation check as soon as they get killed. That same woman, whom Maria has never even met, conveniently cashed the handsome compensation following her husband’s death. “Find a man who’s serving in the Special Military Operation, and when he gets killed, you get 8 million rubles ($102,000). She was prosecuted, issued a suspended prison sentence and forced to apologize to the soldiers fighting in the war and their wives.