Protection measure: the Russian Federation is preparing a "basic standard" of support for its veterans

Russia is preparing to introduce a single list of 19 social assistance measures for its participants. This was stated at a meeting with Vladimir Putin by the head of the State Council's commission for the support of combat veterans, Governor of the Astrakhan region Igor Babushkin. The list includes benefits in the fields of education, culture, healthcare and employment — they should be valid until the end of the year following the end of the secondary school. About what benefits veterans already enjoy and how the president reacted to new initiatives — in the Izvestia article.

How the commission helps combat veterans

The State Council commission consists of 44 people, including governors, representatives of the government, the presidential Administration, the Defenders of the Fatherland Foundation, public organizations, the Popular Front, experts and participants in the Time of Heroes program. They are divided into three working groups that develop measures for medical, psychological and social assistance in general.

Four meetings of the commission and seven meetings of the working groups have already been held. In total, the participants received more than 500 requests. At the same time, a number of problems addressed by citizens have already been resolved, Igor Babushkin, head of the commission and Governor of the Astrakhan region, reported to the president.

— Thus, the government has decided to extend the Social Fund program for medical rehabilitation and sanatorium treatment for 2026-2027. At the commission's site, the Ministry of Labor, the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Finance managed to work out the most effective options for resolving issues related to the program to stimulate entrepreneurial activity among veterans using the social contract mechanism," he explained.

In addition, it was possible to develop uniform rules for the adaptation of living quarters for the disabled and create the Defenders of the Fatherland Foundation. Its purpose is to provide constant support to veterans of the SVO, family members of the victims and provide them with assistance on a one-stop-shop basis.

The format of the State Council commission presupposes effective work due to the fact that representatives of the regions, the federal center, and public figures who know the problems participate in it, Elena Tsunaeva, first deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Labor, Social Policy, and Veterans Affairs, who participated in the work of the commission, said in a conversation with Izvestia.

— We are dealing with people who head executive authorities, and who know how any proposal received from public figures, parliamentarians, to consider and work out how it will really look in practice in the region. Therefore, the format of the commission itself and the format of consideration of problems, it seems to me, is very effective, — the deputy is sure.

As for the development of new benefits for veterans of the SVR, in this case it makes sense to first of all "adjust" those support measures that have already been taken, she added.

Russia has already formed a large-scale system of measures to support ITS members and their families, and in the future these measures will be supplemented and expanded, including through the efforts of the State Council Commission, Sergei Sokolov, deputy head of the Executive Committee of the Popular Front, told Izvestia.

"First of all, we communicate with the soldiers and veterans of the special operation themselves in order to better understand their needs and hear their concerns," he said.

The governor of the Astrakhan Region reported to Vladimir Putin about some of them, citing a study by the Popular Front, Sokolov said.

The Commission is preparing new measures to support its veterans

The Commission has developed a list of 19 social support measures, which, according to Babushkin, could become an exemplary list for each region of the Russian Federation. Support measures cover education, social protection, employment, healthcare, culture, and the tax sector. They should be valid until the end of the year following the end of the special operation, and for disabled veterans - indefinitely. Such a list will finally form a unified system of support measures at the federal, regional and municipal levels, the head of the commission is confident.

We also need to help the military who were disabled several years ago, starting in 2014, Igor Babushkin said. The fact is that most of them were unable to properly register their disability in order to receive the benefits they were entitled to.

— It's about time. It should have been decided already, this is not the first time we have discussed this," Vladimir Putin said.

The Commission plans to increase the availability of psychological assistance to ITS participants during the medical examination and to assist with employment in the civil service. According to Babushkin, it is necessary to establish a flexible mechanism that could offset the problem of the military's lack of experience in such work. The President was also presented with the idea of revising medical criteria for applicants with disabilities.

— For example, a welder. If a person has amputated lower limbs, he can also work as a welder, but medical requirements and the commission do not allow him to do so. I believe that this could also be considered and a positive decision could be made," said the head of the commission.

In the field of education, veterans are planned to be given the opportunity to take preparatory courses before entering the university, and universities themselves should be ready to train such students in several specializations, including an individual plan. The President supported such initiatives, warning that they need to be funded so that they do not remain on paper. "It is necessary to think over the details so that, I repeat once again, all these good ideas as a whole do not hang in the air," he stressed.