Moscow's promise of big payments to its troops is creating a new headache for the Russian military

• The Kremlin has promised high pay to Russians who perform military service in Ukraine.
• But there are already reports of Russian troops not getting paid on time or at all.
• Anger over pay issues could worsen the already poor morale among Russian troops in Ukraine.

Hoping to mollify citizens thrown into a less than popular war, Russia has boosted pay for recent draftees. But this is creating other problems.

Not only are personnel costs devouring one-third of the defense budget, but in some cases, newly conscripted troops are being paid more than combat-experienced officers, including the ones training them.