Russian soldiers returning from war in Ukraine scare Russian society and create problems for Kremlin

The Kremlin’s policy of sending hundreds of thousands of Russian men, including many prisoners, to war with little to no training or equipment has had predictable effects back on the home front: numerous soldiers have committed violent crimes upon returning home, according to Meduza outlet. The Russian authorities have been reluctant to criticize these veterans, with Putin calling for them to become the country’s “new elite.” But according to Meduza’s inside sources, the president’s team is well aware of the risks the returnees pose and fears Russian society isn’t prepared to accept them.

The Kremlin believes that the return of Russian soldiers from Ukraine will be the country’s “biggest political and social risk factor” during Putin’s current term as president, Kremlin domestic policy czar Sergey Kiriyenko told a group of deputy governors at a meeting in early July.

According to two people who were in attendance and a third source close to the Kremlin, Kiriyenko stressed that returning soldiers are “adapting poorly” to civilian life. He noted that many “volunteers” enlisted in the army as a way of getting out of prison and that some of them have committed new crimes, including murder and rape, after returning from the front.

But Kiriyenko also went beyond former inmates and spoke about returning soldiers in general, according to Meduza’s sources. One source said the deputy chief of staff contrasted the current war with the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and World War II.

Meduza’s sources noted that in private conversations, Russian officials have even begun referring to soldiers returning from Ukraine as “the new Afghans” and are afraid that, over time, the former servicemen could become disillusioned with civilian life and form their own criminal groups.

The two meeting attendees added that they concluded from Kiriyenko’s statements that the Russian authorities don’t fully understand the scale of the risks that the country might face after the war. A source close to the Putin administration told Meduza that gaining a broader understanding of this situation is one of the Kremlin’s main goals for the first year of the president’s new term