International Firms Could Be Bankrolling 1 Million Russian Soldiers
International firms could effectively be bankrolling 1 million Russian soldiers through taxes paid in the country, a report suggests.
According to figures from campaign group B4Ukraine and the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE) Institute shared exclusively with Newsweek, foreign companies in Russia paid the country at least $20 billion in taxes in 2024. This figure, they said, was enough to pay for the salaries of one million Russian soldiers.
The 1 million soldiers figure was calculated using a news report that said Russian soldiers in the Kemerovo Region earn $18,400 per contract.
B4Ukraine and KSE Institute's report also found that, since the war in Ukraine started, foreign companies have paid over $60 billion in taxes to Russia—half of Russia's military budget for 2025 alone.
The five companies that paid the most profit tax in Russia in 2024 were Austrian bank Raiffeisen Bank ($402 million), Chinese car manufacturer Chery Automobile ($222 million), multinational tobacco company Philip Morris International ($220 million), Japanese tobacco company Japan Tobacco International (JTI; $182 million) and French home improvement and gardening retailer Leroy Merlin ($128 million).
https://www.newsweek.com/russian-soldier...es-2117512
International firms could effectively be bankrolling 1 million Russian soldiers through taxes paid in the country, a report suggests.
According to figures from campaign group B4Ukraine and the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE) Institute shared exclusively with Newsweek, foreign companies in Russia paid the country at least $20 billion in taxes in 2024. This figure, they said, was enough to pay for the salaries of one million Russian soldiers.
The 1 million soldiers figure was calculated using a news report that said Russian soldiers in the Kemerovo Region earn $18,400 per contract.
B4Ukraine and KSE Institute's report also found that, since the war in Ukraine started, foreign companies have paid over $60 billion in taxes to Russia—half of Russia's military budget for 2025 alone.
The five companies that paid the most profit tax in Russia in 2024 were Austrian bank Raiffeisen Bank ($402 million), Chinese car manufacturer Chery Automobile ($222 million), multinational tobacco company Philip Morris International ($220 million), Japanese tobacco company Japan Tobacco International (JTI; $182 million) and French home improvement and gardening retailer Leroy Merlin ($128 million).
https://www.newsweek.com/russian-soldier...es-2117512
teachings of the Bible are so muddled and self-contradictory that it was possible for Christians to happily burn heretics alive for five long centuries. It was even possible for the most venerated patriarchs of the Church, like St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, to conclude that heretics should be tortured (Augustine) or killed outright (Aquinas). Martin Luther and John Calvin advocated the wholesale murder of heretics, apostates, Jews, and witches. - Sam Harris, "Letter To A Christian Nation"
