The Liberal Democratic Party proposed recognizing sappers in the border region of the Russian Federation as veterans of military operations

Deputies of the LDPR faction, led by party leader Leonid Slutsky, proposed granting the status of a combat veteran to employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and the State Fire Service, who perform their duty by defusing explosive devices during the counter-terrorism operation (CTO) in the Belgorod, Bryansk and Kursk regions. Slutsky informed Izvestia about this on July 3.

"The Liberal Democratic Party proposes amendments to the bill. <...> The document guarantees the granting of combat veteran status to employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and the State Fire Service who participated in the search, neutralization and destruction of explosive objects during a special military operation," said the head of the Duma faction.

The deputy stressed that employees of rescue and fire services in the Russian border region perform daily feats, risking their lives while clearing mines and neutralizing enemy shells.

He noted that their hard and heroic work to save the lives of civilians is not inferior to the exploits of soldiers at the front, however, due to gaps in legislation, these specialists are deprived of the status of a combat veteran and the social benefits they receive.

Two employees of the pyrotechnic work unit of the Ministry of Emergency Situations died during mine clearance in one of the settlements of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) on May 18. The leadership and personnel of the Main Directorate of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations in the DPR expressed their condolences to the families of those killed while performing their duties.

Alexey Kostrubitsky, Deputy head of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations, said on May 27 that since the beginning of Russia's special military operation in 2022, 33 employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation have died while performing their official duties, and more than 300 more have been injured. The deaths and injuries were caused by drone attacks by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.