Russian Pension Fund employees asked not to publish information about welfare payments to war participants. Journalists use this data to uncover scale of Russian troop losses.

The Russian Pension Fund sent a letter to employees of its regional offices asking them not to upload information about welfare payments for those fighting in Ukraine, writes independent media iStories.

Journalists noticed copies of the letter in the chats of employees of organizations responsible for filling in the Unified State Social Security Information System. In the letter, the agency asks employees not to upload data on welfare payments and to delete such information that has already been entered into the database.

The document was sent to Pension Fund’s regional offices back in December 2022. It was signed by Yaroslav Omelay, the agency’s Deputy Chairman of the Board.

The Unified State Social Security Information System aggregates data on all social support measures for Russians. Information about support for military personnel and their families, including those who died during military service, is published on the public section of the system. As iStories notes, the information that the Pension Fund has forbidden to publish may reveal the Russian army’s losses and the number of military personnel who have received disability status.