A war memorial in the Aginsky district of the Zabaykalsky region. Photo: Zabaykalsky region press service
Russia’s regional authorities have spent at least 150 million rubles (€1.4 million) since 2023 on monuments to soldiers killed in the war in Ukraine, The Moscow Times reported on Friday, citing public procurement data.
In total, the Russian regional authorities have signed 34 contracts for the construction of memorials to honour their war dead since 2023, The Moscow Times said.
The biggest spender was the Zabaykalsky region in the Russian Far East where the regional authorities spent over 42 million rubles (€400,000) commissioning monuments to Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine. The region has repeatedly been classified as one of the 10 poorest in the country, The Moscow Times noted.
The southern Siberian republic of Tyva came second in terms of expenditure, having spent over 23 million rubles (€220,000) on war memorials, while the Yamalo-Nenets autonomous district, in the Russian Arctic, came third with over 21 million rubles (€200,000), according to The Moscow Times.
According to figures released by the BBC and independent news outlet Mediazona earlier this month, the Zabaykalsky region has lost at least 1,212 soldiers fighting in Ukraine since the start of the war, while Tyva suffered 716 losses and the Yamalo-Nenets autonomous district, which also led in terms of expenditure on cemetery expansion, lost 252.
