President’s Meeting on Rehabilitation of Residential Infrastructure: Highlights

The priority task at the moment is to eliminate the possibility of shelling by the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) of the border regions of Russia, President Vladimir Putin said during a meeting on the restoration of residential infrastructure destroyed in the border regions and as a result of emergency situations.

“Of course, the priority task is to eliminate the very possibility of shelling, but this is the business of the military department. Many people found themselves in a difficult situation: they lost their homes, were forced to move to relatives or to temporary places of residence, faced interruptions in the supply of water, heat, electricity,” quotes President’s press service of the Kremlin.

The main topic of the meeting was support for the residents of Crimea, Belgorod, Bryansk and Kursk regions, whose houses and apartments in the border areas were damaged or destroyed due to shelling by the Ukrainian military.

The head of state drew the attention of the government to the need to solve the problems of citizens affected by shelling: repair or compensate for the loss of houses, apartments, other property, as well as return energy, heat and water supply facilities to normal operation.

Speaking about the support of citizens who lost their homes due to emergencies, flooding, floods, natural fires throughout Russia, Putin noted that in these cases lump-sum payments and benefits, financial assistance, as well as the restoration of educational, healthcare and cultural facilities for federal resource account.

“And so, in general, I ask you to tune in to ensure that all the issues discussed today are closed, and closed as soon as possible,” the president said and gave the floor to Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin.

The vice-premier noted that the inhabitants of the Belgorod, Kursk, and Bryansk regions in the border areas must be resettled because of the shelling. According to him, in these cases it is not always possible to use traditional mechanisms of compensation in emergencies. The government has already prepared proposals on this matter.

After the start of the special operation, the Ukrainian military began to regularly shell the border regions of Russia. In April 2022, the “yellow” (high) level of terrorist threat was introduced by six of the seven border regions. Since then, the regime has been repeatedly extended.

In addition, from October 19, 2022, a “medium response” regime was introduced, which, by decree of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was extended to eight border regions – Crimea, Sevastopol, Krasnodar Territory, Belgorod, Bryansk, Voronezh, Kursk and Rostov regions.

The day before, the head of state also instructed to strengthen the inspection and control over the movement of vehicles across the borders of the subjects on whose territory the “yellow” level of terrorist danger was set.