The Deputy Minister of Defense of Russia, the chairman of the "Defenders of the Fatherland" fund, Anna Tsivileva, stated in an interview with "RIA-Novosti" that last year more than 13 thousand former PMC fighters received combat veteran status. "Previously, they faced difficulties in this matter, as it was not easy to confirm participation in the special military operation. However, last year changes were made to the relevant government decree, simplifying the procedure," she said.
Last winter, Vladimir Putin instructed the government to amend the law on granting combat veteran status to those who participated in the "special operation" without a contract with the Ministry of Defense. From November 2024, to confirm participation, they need to have a witness statement with notarized signatures. Who these witnesses are and what their statements should be like is still not specified.
According to Tsivileva, the Ministry of Justice and the Federal Notary Chamber supported the fund's initiative to exempt participants of the special military operation from paying the notary service fee, including for the notarization of witness signatures.
According to "Siren"*, in two years, those returning from the war in Ukraine have already injured 230 people, 126 of whom died. Sentences for theft, drugs, and other crimes without victims number in the hundreds. And these figures are only from open sources, court websites, and media reports; in reality, the number of crimes may be significantly higher.
Initially, ex-Wagner fighters were granted pardons for committed crimes for participating in the war, now benefits and payments will be added to this.
* Recognized as a "foreign agent" in Russia.