Learn About Russian ‘Black Widows’ Seducing Soldiers Into Marriage for Their Death Benefits

The Widowmaker’s Grift In the shadowy bars, nightclubs, and online chatrooms  (do those still exist?) of wartime Russia, a new breed of predator has emerged. Dubbed “Black Widows,” these women are not the Chechen suicide bombers of yesteryear but cunning opportunists exploiting the chaos of war for personal gain. Their weapon? Matrimony. Reports have surfaced of women seducing Russian soldiers into hasty marriages, only to cash in on the substantial death benefits should their husbands fall in Ukraine. The Russian government offers up to 5.2 million rubles (approximately $60,000) plus a survivor’s pension to the families of fallen soldiers. For some, this grim lottery has become a calculated business plan. Love, Lies, and Lucre One particularly egregious case involved Marina Orlova, a real estate agent from Tomsk. In a podcast, she brazenly advised women to marry soldiers heading to Ukraine, suggesting they could later collect the death benefits and invest in property. “You find a man now who is serving [for Russia in the war], he dies, and you get 8 million rubles ($133,000),” she stated. Orlova was subsequently sentenced to 80 hours of community service for inciting hatred or enmity. Marina Orlova (L) and Daria Cherdantseva (R) Orlova was punished with 80 hours of what amounts to community service in the US and Cherdantseva, a blogger who interviewed her, received 85 hours of “correctional labor” as her punishment. Image Credit: GU Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation in the Tomsk region   The Malvinkas: Spies in Disguise? Beyond financial exploitation, concerns have arisen about espionage. Anastasia Kashevarova, a Russian public figure, warned of “Malvinkas”—women who not only seek monetary gain but also extract sensitive information from soldiers, potentially passing it to Ukrainian forces. “A sex agent will find out lots of things about her groom’s unit and report it to the enemy,” she noted. Her groom? Ok. A Nation’s Shame: What’s the Kremlin’s Take on This The Kremlin isn’t laughing about these “Black Widow” scams—far from it. In fact, they’re furious. Under Russian law, the state hands out hefty death benefits—millions of rubles—to surviving spouses. And these women are cashing in, fast. That runs completely counter to the image Putin and his inner circle have worked so hard to promote. In the official narrative, the wife of a fallen soldier is a sacred figure—a grieving yet honorable woman who carries the torch of patriotism. The Kremlin calls her the “hero’s wife,” and Russian state media plays that angle every chance it gets. But these schemes tear that image to shreds, and the people in power don’t like having their illusions messed with. Outrage is boiling over in Russia’s patriotic circles. State-run news outlets and social media are lit up with commentary slamming these women as frauds, parasites, and criminals. A lot of voices are calling for jail time. One case that caused a particular stir involved a real estate agent in Tomsk who publicly told women to marry soldiers just to get the payout and use the money to buy property. The courts hit her with community service, but the damage was already done. That clip went viral, and the backlash was swift. But here’s the part that’s really keeping some folks in Moscow awake at night: the security angle. Bloggers and former intel officers are starting to suggest that some of these so-called Black Widows might not just be after a payout—they could be fishing for military secrets. Marry a young soldier, cozy up to him, get the details on his unit or his deployment, and leak it to the Ukrainians? That’s dirty… and dangerous. Suddenly, this isn’t just a domestic fraud issue; it’s a potential national security breach. So yeah, the Kremlin hates these scams. They undercut the patriotic narrative, they make a mockery of state propaganda, and they open the door to espionage. That’s three strikes in Putin’s book. Russia is in the middle of a costly and controversial war, and the government is trying hard to rally public support by painting soldiers and their families as selfless heroes. The last thing they want is headlines about young women gaming the system for real estate and rubles. These scams are being treated as a serious problem, not just by the Kremlin, but by Russian media and the public. And while the authorities haven’t exactly rounded up an army of Black Widows just yet, they’re watching closely—and they’re not happy. This kind of grift doesn’t just cheat the system, it chips away at the entire narrative that the Russian government has built around honor, sacrifice, and national pride. If there’s one thing you can count on in authoritarian regimes, it’s that they hate losing control of the story. And right now, these women are rewriting the script. The Human Cost Amid the scams and schemes, genuine stories of loss persist. Yulia Ivkina, the 23-year-old widow of a 19-year-old soldier killed in Ukraine, expressed her grief: “It would be better if I could have my husband back. No money would be needed.” Her sentiment underscores the profound human toll behind the statistics and scandals. Wrapping Up In the fog of war, where valor meets vulnerability, the emergence of these “Black Widows” adds another layer of tragedy. As Russia grapples with the consequences of its actions in Ukraine, the exploitation of its soldiers by those they trust most serves as a dark reminder: in war, not all wounds are inflicted by the enemy.