What benefits does the state provide to former combatants? Federal law on veterans will be discussed in this article.
WWII veterans
The Law on Veterans (Federal Law No. 5 of 1995) enshrines the following main categories of citizens:
- veterans of the Great Patriotic War;
- war veterans during the Soviet era;
- war veterans of the Russian Federation;
- labor veterans.
Each of the groups represented has the right to certain benefits and social privileges. What does the Federal Law say about veterans of the Great Patriotic War? The first thing worth noting is the definition of this group of people. The bill prescribes that only those persons who served in the military or labor service from 1941 to 1945 can be veterans of the Great Patriotic War. The duration of service should not be less than six months. The following categories of war veterans are distinguished:
- persons who were part of the army operating at the time of the Great Patriotic War, members of clandestine formations, as well as partisans;
- intelligence and counterintelligence officers;
- persons working in institutions for internal affairs, as well as in state security bodies;
- employees of air defense facilities;
- home front workers;
- persons who survived the conditions of the besieged Leningrad.
The Law on Veterans (Federal Law No. 5 of 1995) identifies several other groups of military personnel and workers of the Great Patriotic War.
Veterans of the military and labor service
The third article of the Federal Law under consideration reveals in more detail the main categories of persons belonging to war veterans. Here's who can be distinguished here:
- employees of "higher" structures - the Ministry of Defense, the penal system, internal affairs bodies and state security during the Great Patriotic War;
- military personnel of any rank or rank, as well as those dismissed or resigned, who served from June 1941 to May 1945, and in foreign territories - until 1952;
- military servicemen in Afghanistan;
- employees of automobile and cargo battalions in Afghanistan;
- the military, who served the due time in Syria.
Labor veterans are any citizens of the Russian Federation, as well as the former USSR, who have with them a certificate of a labor veteran.
Public policy
The federal law (N 5 FZ) on veterans regulates a certain policy in relation to a group of persons who have carried out military or certain labor activities in the territory of the USSR or the Russian Federation. What exactly is it about? The law under consideration prescribes the following points:
- it is necessary to create appropriate bodies in the power structures of the Russian Federation, the purpose of which would be to take care of veterans and guardianship over them;
- it is necessary to qualitatively implement the methods of social support in accordance with certain laws and regulations;
- financial resources must be correctly allocated for the implementation of measures and methods of social guardianship and care for veterans;
- it is advisable to carry out propaganda in the media of the importance of military and labor service.
Thus, the presented Federal Law quite clearly and clearly defines the main directions of state policy regarding veterans.
The first group of types of social support
The Law on Veterans (Federal Law No. 5 of 1995) prescribes the main types and types of social support that should be provided to every citizen with the status of a veteran. What kind of species are indicated here?
This is what it is all about:
- in accordance with the laws of the Russian Federation, veterans should be paid cash benefits in a timely manner, pension work should not be violated under any circumstances;
- cash payments must be made monthly; delays are unacceptable;
- in accordance with the Federal Law No. 176 of 2015, veterans must be provided with accommodation;
- payment for housing, as well as utilities, should be compensated;
- in necessary cases, veterans should be provided with quality medical care;
- the need for retirement benefits.
Not all types of social support that are envisaged by the Federal Law of the Russian Federation on Veterans were indicated above. Next, some other assistance measures will be described.
The second group of types of social support
Every veteran of labor, a former soldier or a disabled person in combat must be provided with high-quality housing. It should be noted that the allocation of the area of a person with the status of a veteran can be carried out only once. The social or property status of the veteran does not affect housing.
It is necessary to highlight some other points. So, each veteran should have a home telephone set out of turn. It is worth noting the benefits of joining various kinds of cooperatives: garage, garden, housing, etc. Compensation of the costs of paying for utility services should be at least 50 percent.
Every veteran has the right to receive quality medical care out of turn (and medical care should be free of charge). It is worth noting the free provision of prostheses, orthopedic structures or other auxiliary elements.
Payments to Veterans
Separately, it is worth talking about cash benefits that veterans of labor or military operations should be provided with. The Veterans Act (Federal Law No. 5 of 1995), namely article 23.1, regulates the main points regarding all necessary payments.
Monthly cash benefits, according to Article 154 of the Federal Law No. 122 of 2004, are granted to prisoners of concentration camps, ghettos, and other fascist places of forced detention. Direct participants in the hostilities, invalids of the Great Patriotic War, rear workers, residents of besieged Leningrad and some other categories of citizens are also highlighted (article 23.1 of the Federal Law No. 5 as amended in 2016).
The size of cash payments is as follows:
- 3088 rubles to invalids of war;
- 2316 direct participants in the hostilities;
- 1699 rubles to survivors of the blockade or fascist concentration camps.
Federal law also talks about indexing these payments. It should occur once a year, in accordance with the level of inflation. Veterans can receive their payments at any nearest branch of the Pension Fund of Russia.
Housing support
Some types of social assistance related to housing and utilities have already been identified above. Now this question should be opened a little wider.
The federal law of the Russian Federation (No. 5 FZ) on veterans regulates the need for state authorities to monitor the payment of housing and communal services of veterans. The required funds must come from the federal to the budgets of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. Payments should be determined in accordance with the cost of utilities, the area of housing in which a citizen with the status of a veteran lives, as well as the size of contributions for major repairs.
It is also worth noting that Federal Law No. 5 on Veterans (as amended from 2015) refers to the persons whose utility should be paid by the state, for almost all of the participants in the hostilities listed above.
The provision of housing for veterans is also regulated by the bill. The total area of housing, for example, should not be less than 18 m 2 .
The provision of funeral services
The federal law of the Russian Federation on veterans, namely article 24, enshrines the basic provisions regarding material assistance to the relatives of a deceased veteran. We are talking about burial and related funeral services. So, the state is obliged to pay all necessary expenses associated with the following points:
- implementation of the transportation of the body to the place of burial;
- cremation or burial;
- manufacturing and installation of the monument.
All necessary funds must be allocated by the federal executive body authorized in the field of military defense.
Final provisions of the Federal Law on Veterans
The bill under consideration contains a number of basic provisions that are presented as final. What exactly is worth highlighting here? Firstly, this is article 25 on the organization of public associations of veterans. Such associations should be created in order to protect the legitimate rights and interests of citizens with veteran status. Various state bodies, both federal and state bodies, should provide all possible assistance to such associations.
Separately, it is worth talking about the responsibility that may be assigned to certain officials in case of failure to fulfill (or poor performance) functions aimed at supporting veterans. Here it is necessary to highlight the legal right of each veteran to apply to the judicial authority for the protection of their rights (the commentary to the Federal Law on Veterans contains separate explanations about complaints: they relate to the lack of social support, state payments, quality medical care, etc.)
The final provisions contain, among other things, references to documentation confirming the rights of citizens with the status of a veteran and their relatives. A special list of states, cities and regions where combat operations are currently underway with the participation of Russian citizens in them is also given. This list is constantly updated.