Thread by @cxemu

Russia pays its soldiers for fighting the war in Ukraine through Gazprombank. At the same time, it is still not under EU and US sanctions.

New investigation from "Schemes" in the thread ⬇️

2 A bit of context: Gazprombank is one of the largest Russian banks on which the European Union and the United States have not yet imposed severe sanctions.

3 The explanation: EU countries (Germany, Italy, Austria, Slovakia and others), have to send money somehow to Russia. Namely, for Russian gas and oil, which these countries are still dependent on.

4 At the same time, "Schemes" journalists have found out that the Russian Ministry of Defense uses this bank to ... pay salaries to the Russian military for waging an aggressive war against Ukraine.

5 Systematic cooperation between the Russian Defense Ministry and Gazprombank began before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine started and continues to this day.

6 Journalists were able to find evidence that the Russian servicemen are now receiving not only salary through this bank, but also the so-called combat allowance – additional payments for participation in the large-scale invasion of Ukraine, which began on February 24.

7 In the Russian social network Vkontakte "Schemes" found a community for Russian servicemen called "Начфин.инфо" (Nachfin. info).

8 Forum contributors - mostly military wives - discuss the timeliness of their husbands' payments for a "special operation" in Ukraine. It turned out that part of the salaries and combat allowance goes through the salary projects of the army in "Gazprombank".

9 Journalists established the exact units these women’s husbands are fighting in Ukraine. For example, on June 15, Larіsa Zaika wrote on a forum: "The salary received. Gazprom, Primorye".

10 Her husband, Volodymyr Zaika, is serving in the 60th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade of the Russian Land Forces, which was spotted near Popasna (Luhansk Region). The city was completely destroyed and is now under occupation.

11 Schemes’ journalist Heorhiy Shabayev called his wife. She "advised" to search for her husband in the war in Ukraine.

12 Another woman in the discussion - Olga Potapenko – also reports on payments: "Both - combat allowance, and salary arrived. Primorsk Region, Gazprom".

13 Her husband, Maksym Potapenko, is a serviceman in the 8th Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade stationed in Ussuriysk, Russia’s Primorsk Region. It is well-known that this unit takes part in the war against Ukraine.

14 The wife of another Russian soldier, Albina Abayeva, wrote at the forum: "Gazprom, salary is received ". Her husband's name is Vadim Abayev.

15 In Odnoklassniki, he indicates that he serves in the 6th separate tank Brigade. Recently, it has joined the 47th tank Division, which participated in the Kharkiv region’s invasion.

16 Vadym Abayev's own participation in the war is also known from published Ukrainian intelligence documents.

17 In a telephone conversation with a Schemes’ journalist, Abayev's wife confirmed that her husband receives salary, including combat allowance – surcharges for waging war in Ukraine - through Gazprombank.

18 After journalists became interested in the salaries of the military in "Gazprombank", the moderator of "Vkontakte" deleted about 14 pages of discussions on this topic. Some of the mentioned wives of the Russian military changed their surnames in social networks.

19 Photos and video from public events of various military units in the spring of 2022, found by "Schemes", speak in support of the systematic cooperation of Russia’s Defense Ministry with Gazprombank.

20 It turns out that the bank through which European money are transferred for Russian gas and oil at the same time serves as a wallet for payment of salaries to the Russian army for waging an aggressive war against Ukraine.

21 Recently President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the European Union should block the activities of all Russian banks without exception: "First of all it concerns "Gazprombank". One of the main wallets to pay for the Anti-European policy of the Russian Federation."

22 Previous six packages of sanctions imposed by the EU have hit other Russian financial institutions, but they have hardly affected Gazprombank.

23 Recently journalists of the American media NBC News drew attention to the dilemma regarding "Gazprombank" which Western governments are facing nbcnews.to/3IbDEqd

24 A Department of Treasury official told NBC News that the Biden administration is tracking Gazprombank’s activities and has not ruled out any future actions against the bank:
"We continue to monitor "Gazprombank" to see if they are doing business with sanctioned entities"

25 While Europe is thinking how to get rid of dependence on Russian energy and, thus, to stop any financial transactions with Russia…

… Russian soldiers are shelling Ukrainian cities and killing Ukrainians, and continue to receive notifications from the unsanctioned "Gazprombank" at the beginning of each month: "Salary and combat allowance for the special operation is paid".

Watch the video on the YouTube channel RFE/RL Ukrainian Service: bit.ly/3a2XwPk
(English subtitles already available)