Kyiv, Ukraine – A Russian officer in the Moscow-occupied part of the Donetsk region in southeastern Ukraine has reportedly become unusually lenient towards one new soldier.As the tale goes, the officer lets him spend several days in the administrative capital, also named Donetsk, and – knowing that the serviceman is single and childless – gives him the phone number of a “nice woman”. Overwhelmed by the war, the serviceman craves intimacy, and within days, the woman persuades him to get married.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listElated after a short honeymoon, he gets back to his military unit, but instead of congratulating him, the officer sends him on a mission he never returns from.The nascent widow promptly cashes “the coffin money”, between 5 and 10 million rubles ($64,000-127,000) – and splits it with the officer, who has already found her another “fiance”.“It’s a real business,” a Donetsk resident told Al Jazeera, explaining an alleged scheme that has also been reported by Ukrainian and exiled Russian media last year.The resident spoke on condition of anonymity because anyone interviewed by foreign media risks reprisal.Drugs and stolen armsBut this is just one of the ways fast money can be made in the Russia-occupied part of Donetsk – about four-fifths of the rustbelt region the size of Albania, dotted with dozens of mines and factories.The presence of tens of thousands of Russian soldiers creates a bonanza for some locals.Unde …
