Doctors and Miners Across russia Are Left Without Pay While the Government Reports Wage Increases

Across russia, healthcare workers are complaining en masse about a sharp drop in income – salaries have fallen by a quarter, and in some cases – by a third. The mechanism is the same everywhere: incentive payments are being cut or completely eliminated.

At the vladimir emergency hospital, employees received no incentive payments for intensive work in January, and in February were paid 100 rubles “for quality”. The actual losses amount to 10,000 rubles per month or more; annual income has decreased by at least 40,000 rubles. The regional healthcare department denies any reduction in payments.

At the suzdal district hospital, the chief doctor issued a direct order canceling incentive payments for seniority and qualifications from February 1 to March 31 due to “overspending of the January 2026 payroll fund”. At this, the local healthcare department assured that medical staff salaries had increased.

At the kurgan emergency hospital, operating room nurses are quitting en masse after their salaries were cut by more than 10,000 rubles in February – from a base rate of about 50,000 rubles – for allegedly “failing to fulfill the plan”. They were not told what exactly they had failed to do.

And so it is throughout russia. On paper, things look different: the government has announced additional 9.6 billion rubles to raise healthcare workers’ salaries in 2026. In reality, there are widespread complaints and layoffs.

Meanwhile, in the kuzbass, a court ordered the coal company “northern kuzbass” to pay 8.2 million rubles in debt to its employees – out of a total debt of 145 million rubles. Operations of at least 19 coal enterprises in the region have been suspended, over 6,000 miners have lost their jobs, and the regional budget for 2025 has lost 36 billion rubles in tax revenue. In yakutia, a criminal case has been opened against the company “anthracite invest project” – its debt to employees exceeds 196 million rubles.