Russia to award cash awards to soldiers who destroy Ukrainian tanks

NATO allies, including the United States and Germany, are sending heavy tanks to Ukraine to strengthen its military capacity, leading the Kremlin to warn that the vehicles will be destroyed if sent. In response, a Russian company is offering five million roubles in cash to soldiers who capture or destroy any Western tanks. The Russian company is Fores. It manufactures proppants for Russia's energy industry, as per a report by Daily Mail. The cash payments will be awarded to Russian soldiers who "destroy or capture" Leopard 2 tanks or Abrams tanks. 

$58,000 will be paid to the first Russian soldiers who destroy one of the tanks and $5,800 will be paid for all the other attacks. Fores has reportedly said that NATO is pumping Ukraine with an "unlimited" amount of weapons, which is inevitably escalating the conflict. The company has also announced a bounty of £174,200 on western fighter jets, even though there are no western fighter jets in the war as of now. However, it is worth mentioning that Ukraine has been seeking F-16 fighter jets and as per a report from Politco, some officials in the US are pushing the Pentagon to green-light it. 

321 tanks have been promised to Ukraine

The United Kingdom, the United States and Germany are sending tanks to Ukraine, with others such as Poland, Norway, Finland and Spain. In total, 321 heavy tanks have been promised, though it could take several months for them to make their way to Ukraine. Ukrainian troops are currently in the UK to learn how to use the Challenger 2 tanks against Russian soldiers. Timely delivery of the tanks is important for Ukraine as Ukraine needs them before Russia launches its widely expected spring offensive. 

Sergey Nechayev, Russia's ambassador to Germany has said that Berlin's decision to send battle tanks to Ukraine is "extremely dangerous". According to him, it "shifts the conflict to a new level of confrontation and contradicts the statements of German politicians about their reluctance to get involved in it". As of now, it is unclear if these cash awards will motivate Russian troops to destroy the tanks. According to western analysts, Russia's troops have low morale, though it is uncertain how accurate this analysis is.