Putin instructed to assign veteran status to SVO participants without a contract

Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed to amend the law by April 1 to assign the status of combat veteran to those who participated in a special operation without a contract with the Ministry of Defense. Also, before this deadline, he instructed the regions to take into account those who are registered in another region when assigning payments to the families of fallen Northern Military District soldiers.

“Introduce changes to the regulatory legal acts of the Russian Federation to provide for granting the status of combat veteran to persons who took part in military military operations, on the basis of documents confirming that they received injury or illness during a special military operation, or on the basis of sold award material, regardless of whether they have specified persons of the contract,” says the text of the order (quoted from website Kremlin).

The President also instructed to provide benefits to family members of Heroes of Russia who were awarded the title posthumously. They will be similar to those received by the military personnel themselves. The text of the order also states that payments to the families of the victims should be received no longer than three months after submitting the application.

In particular, many participants of the Wagner PMC did not sign the contract with the Ministry of Defense. The issue of veteran status for PMC participants was raised on December 14 on a direct line with President Vladimir Putin. Combatant Sergei Sobolev said that he fought for six months in the ranks of a private military company he did not name and after that he was unable to obtain veteran status. In response, Vladimir Putin acknowledged the problem and promised to solve it. He emphasized that PMC fighters have the right to all the benefits and support from the state that all other participants in hostilities enjoy.

December 18, 2023, Chairman of the Defenders of the Fatherland Foundation Anna Tsivileva issued at a ceremony in Moscow, 32 soldiers of the Wagner PMC received certificates of combat veterans. In total, at that time, the Defenders of the Fatherland Foundation gave out The fighters of the Wagner PMC have about 500 certificates. According to the chairman of the fund, Anna Tsivileva, more than 3 thousand applications were submitted to the fund from soldiers of a private military company.

Read more about the situation with the status of PMC fighters in the Kommersant article. “Volunteers were offered an alternative”.