Wagner soldiers' families receive about 5 million rubles (about $60,000) when a relative is killed. That means more than $1 billion in cash may now be in circulation, affecting Russia's economy. In an audio comment published last month by his company Concorde, Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin said the families received "black cash" payments. The payments for so many deaths would equal 100 billion rubles ($1.2 billion) of cash flowing into Russia's financial system. In January, the Daily Beast reported that some families had yet to receive payments from Wagner.

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Persons: Wagner, Bloomberg they'd, —, Vladimir Putin, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Prigozhin, Al Jazeera, Putin Organizations: Bloomberg, Service, Wagner Group, German Marshall Fund, Concorde, Central Bank, Daily Beast, Kremlin, intel Locations: Al, Ukrainian, Bakhmut, Moscow