The year of 2023 became not only a period of gaining resilience, which Russia demonstrated in response to external challenges in the financial, economic and sociopolitical spheres, but also a time of active search and implementation of new strategies that allow the country to adapt to the dynamically changing rules of the game in the international arena and discover new leadership opportunities. And a key role in these changes has played the civil society.
1.2Integration of the new regions into the all-Russian legal and civil space
The last day of September 2023 marks a year since the President of Russia has signed an agreement on the accession of four new regions to the Russian Federation — the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions. A year later this event remains for many Russians one of the most significant in the modern history of Russia.3
To ensure equal social and economic guarantees for the population, the President of Russia set the task of integrating the new regions into a single economic, legal, educational and cultural space of our country, noting the need to bring them to the all-Russian level in the next eight years. The head of state signed relevant federal laws in the fields of education, science, healthcare, social protection, sports, and the integration of the new regions into the judicial system of the Russian Federation.
During the spring session the State Duma of the Russian Federation enacted 54 laws, aimed at integrating the new regions into the Russian legal framework.4 This work was continued in the autumn session of 2023.5
In the next 2.5 years the federal authorities plan to allocate ~ 2 trillion rubles6
Throughout 2023, with the coordination of responsible ministries and departments, an integrated work was launched to ensure security, restoration and socioeconomic development of the new territories.
The integrated program for the socioeconomic development of the new regions, approved by the Russian Government in April 2023, encompasses ~ 300 priority activities, aimed at restoring and repairing infrastructure, providing citizens with comfortable housing and necessary social facilities. The program is designed for 2023–2025 with targets until 2030.7
Restoration works in the DPR, LPR, Kherson, and Zaporozhye regions are implemented by 33 companies ~ 50 ths. builders
Russian civil society made a significant contribution to the process of integration of the new regions into the all-Russian socioeconomic and cultural space in 2023. Along with other institutions the Civic Chamber focused its efforts on helping to implement civil initiatives in the new regions.
The process of forming civic chambers in the new regions of the Russian Federation was completed in 2023.8.1, 8.2 In accordance with the legislative developments of 2022, in July 2023 representatives of the LPR, DPR, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions entered the new VIII composition of the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation.9 Thus civil society institutions in the new regions received an effective tool for representation and interaction with government authorities at all levels.
To facilitate the integration of civil society institutions of the new regions of the Russian Federation into the political, social and economic systems of the country, in July 2023 the Coordination Council on the new regions’ integration was instituted in the Civic Chamber, uniting members of the Civic Chamber and opinion leaders of the new regions.10
Directions of the Coordination Council under the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation for the integration of the new regions of the Russian Federation (given in abbreviated form):11
- Coordinating the work of members of the Civic Chamber with the new regions of the Russian Federation;
- Providing information, methodological and other support to civic chambers of the new regions of the Russian Federation;
- Expertizing draft law developed for the new regions of the Russian Federation;
- Supporting the nonprofit sector in the new regions of the Russian Federation. Assistance in organizing the effective work of public associations, including the development of federal public projects;
- Promoting the formation of communities in the field of activities of socially oriented NPOs and civil activists;
- Assistance in the implementation of projects of the Civic Chamber aimed at helping the new regions and their residents;
- Coordinating the work to implement public monitoring of compliance with the electoral rights of citizens in the new regions;
- Assistance in working with the SMO participants, veterans, internal refugees, orphans and disabled people, and representatives of other socially vulnerable categories of the population;
- Organizing work to attract representatives of other regions with the experience in public activities, civic chambers of chief regions to work with the new regions of the Russian Federation;
- Conducting training events for representatives of socially oriented NPOs and civil activists, including members of civic chambers of the new regions of the Russian Federation;
- Facilitating the participation of representatives of socially oriented NPOs and civil activists from the new regions in forums and other socially significant events; and
- Coordinating the reporting on the state of civil society institutions in the new regions of the Russian Federation.
In the fall of 2022, when representatives of the LPR were able to participate in the competition of the Presidential Grants Foundation, only three organizations applied for participation.
For the next competition of the Presidential Grants Foundation in March 2023, organizations from the LPR have already sent 21 applications12
The close date for applications for the 17th foundation competition was October 16, 2023.
47 projects of nonprofit organizations from the new regions of Russia submitted to participate in the competition13
The winners of the
competition will be
determined in January
2024.
In 2023 the implementation of the project “Support for Public Initiatives in the New Territories of Russia”, initiated in 2022, continued. This project ensures the work of created in the Lugansk and Donetsk people’s republics and Zaporozhye region resource centers for supporting public initiatives.14 Thanks to the work of resource centers, the activity of nonprof it organizations in the new regions in 2023 has increased significantly.
The Civic Chamber pays increased attention to working with citizens’ appeals living in the new regions, which allows the voice of each resident to be heard and, if necessary, to resolve such appeal privately.15
Today, the process of integrating the new regions into the Russian legal and civil space is in full swing. Representatives of government, business and civil society will have to jointly solve a number of problems in the near future, including those related to making decisions to compensate citizens for the loss of property due to shelling, providing housing for military personnel, eliminating excessive red tape of many administrative procedures, preventing the outflow of young people from the new regions, and assistance and support for socially vulnerable categories of citizens and many others.16
1.3Support of the SMO participants and veterans and their families
At the beginning of 2023, following a meeting with the mothers of military personnel who participated in the special military operation that took place in November 2022,17 the President of Russia approved a list of instructions, outlining the priority of supporting participants and veterans of combat operations and members of their families, as part of the implementation of state social policy in 2023.18
The topic of supporting participants in the special military operation, as well as members of their families, became one of the priority directions of the State Duma during the spring session of 2023.
More than 70 laws were enacted to build a unified system of targeted assistance to military personnel.
The laws enacted by the State Duma, in particular, allow:
- All participants of the SMO and Donbass militias to receive the status of combat veterans;
- Military pensioners who returned to service, regardless of their position, to retain an increased pension;
- Widows of combat veterans to receive state support regardless of the composition of the family in which they live;
- Family members of military personnel to continue to use service housing;
- To retain the right to compensation for rent in case of renting housing at the previous place of service;
- To assign a separate quota within government-funded places at universities based on the results of entrance examinations for the SMO participants;
- To admit children of the SMO participants out of turn to schools and nurseries;
- To authorize commanders and heads of hospitals to certify signatures of military personnel, if personal presence cannot be ensured when registering births, marriages and their dissolution;
- To enjoy the right to free consultation with lawyers on a number of significant matters;
- To exempt the SMO participants, as well as members of their families, from paying personal income tax, a number of duties and penalties; and
- To undergo vocational training and training under vocational retraining programs for disabled combatants.
At the beginning of April 2023, the President of Russia, in order to create conditions that ensure a decent life and active work for participants in the special military operation and members of their families, signed the Executive Order On Establishing “Defenders of the Fatherland State Fund” to Support Participants in the Special Military Operation.19 From June 1, 2023, the fund began its work in 16 directions.
Defenders of the Fatherland State Fund
In the first months of the SMO, the fund received more than 90 thousand requests from military personnel. As of October 2023, 89 branches of the fund received more than 340 ths. requests,of which more than 220 thousand were requests from active military personnel and members of their families.
In September 2023, the fund received a grant in the amount of 5 billion rubles
The funds will be used to fulfill the tasks assigned to the fund, the main one of which is integrated support for veterans of the special military operation and family members of fallen soldiers.
16 key directions of the “Defenders of the Fatherland State Fund”
Medical rehabilitation
Providing technical means of rehabilitation
Reissuance and preparation of documents
Psychological and psychotherapeutic assistance
Organization of long-term care system
Patriotic education of the population
Hospitalization
Social adaptation and resocialization
Commemorating the memory of the SMO veterans
Sports, Paralympic Movement, cultural and leisure activities
Palliative care
Legal assistance
Historical and cultural education
Health resort treatment
Social support
Integration of the SMO veterans into the system of patriotic education of Russian citizens
One of the urgent problems, that caused public outcry in the first half of 2023, were the inequality of payments and preferential benefits for the SMO participants and their families in different regions of Russia. A significant number of additional support measures implemented in the regions of the Russian Federation directly depended on their financial capabilities. To level out this situation, the Working Group on the SMO issues, supervised by Andrei Turchak and created by the Executive Order of the President of Russia,20 developed a Unified standard of regional measures to support the special military operation participants and their families, including 20 areas of mandatory assistance. The President of Russia supported the implementation of the developed unified standard in the regions.
Unified standard: 20 measures to support the SMO participants and their family members
- To suspend the fulfillment of obligations of the SMO participants under agreements on the provision of subsidies (grants) from the budgets of regions of Russia for the period of participation in the special military operation, as well as to extend their period to continue fulfilling obligations after demobilization.
- To ensure the safety of vehicles of the SMO participants free of charge.
- To provide the SMO participants with benefits for paying transport tax per vehicle.
- To maintain (renew) the status of a large family and the right to social support measures associated with this status in the event of the death of one or more children participating in the SMO.
- To freeze (renew) the right of citizens with three or more children on free land in the event of the death of one or more children participating in the SMO.
- To compensate the families of the SMO participants for part of the costs of housing and utilities, as well as part of the fee for major overhaul.
- To include the SMO participants and members of their families in the number of preferential categories entitled to a subsidy for the purchase of gas equipment and work on their land plots in the amount of at least 100 thousand rubles per household.
- To ensure free social services at home, in a stationary or semi-stationary form, to disabled spouses and parents of the SMO participants recognized as in need of social services.
- To ensure free psychological assistance to family members of the SMO participants (spouses, children, parents), including in the event of their death.
- To ensure preferential hot meals to children of the SMO participants studying in grades 5–11, as well as full-time students
- To exempt from fees charged to parents for the supervision and care of children of the SMO participants in nurseries (including in the event of death of the SMO participants).
- To ensure the enrollment of children of the SMO participants in extended day groups and 24-hour stay in nurseries on a priority (preferential) basis (including in the event of death of the SMO participants)
- To ensure the preferential right of the SMO participants to transfer their children to other nurseries closest to the family’s place of residence (including in the event of death of the SMO participants).
- To exempt from fees for supervision and care of children of the SMO participants in extended day groups in educational institutions (including in the event of death of the SMO participants).
- To ensure the priority enrollment in extended day groups for children of the SMO participants studying in grades 1–6 (including in the event of death of the SMO participants).
- To ensure the preferential right of families of the SMO participants to transfer their children to the educational organizations closest to their place of residence (including in the event of death of the SMO participants).
- To ensure free children classes in clubs and sections for families of the SMO participants (including in the event of death of the SMO participants).
- To ensure a priority enrollment in sports groups (sections) for children of the SMO participants in regional and municipal sports training organizations and the provision of sports equipment, apparels and items free of charge (including in the event of death of the SMO participants).
- To ensure travel warrants at discount prices to children’s health camps and health resorts for children of the SMO participants (including in the event of death of the SMO participants).
- To ensure preferential visits to regional and municipal cultural institutions and entertainment events for the SMO participants and members of their families (spouses, children, parents) (including in the event of death of the SMO participants).
Source: The Parliamentary Newspaper // A unified standard of support measures has been developed for the SMO participants and their families
Monitoring the implementation of support measures proposed in the unified standard is entrusted to the Working Group on the SMO matters, which included the Hero of Russia, First Vice President of the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation, Vyacheslav Bocharov. The group will carry out this task jointly with the “Defenders of the Fatherland State Fund” and the coordination center of the Government of the Russian Federation.
An important step in simplifying the procedure for providing social support measures to the SMO participants was the decision of the Russian Government on the nonapplication procedure for obtaining a combat veteran’s certificate and providing appropriate payments. All necessary information is received by the Social Fund of Russia from the ministries and departments, that issued veteran’s certificates, starting in 2023.21
On June 24, 2023, the President of Russia signed a law that enables the SMO participants and their children to enter universities in budget-funded places within a separate quota. And those who are already studying on a paid basis, according to the law, can switch to budget-funded places as a priority.
More than 9 ths. of the SMO fighters and members of their families matriculated under the quota of the SMO participants in 2023,22 of whom 1,200 were the SMO participants and 8,200 members of their families.220 of the SMO participants and their children were enrolled to preparatory departments of universities at the expense of budgetary allocations.
The most popular areas were the following: medical science, pedagogy, as well as information systems and technologies.
In November 2023, the “Defenders of the Fatherland State Fund” and the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation launched a special platform for applications for retraining of the veterans. The platform facilitates applications flow through the fund’s social coordinators directly to the university chosen by the subject. Such a mechanism will enable a fast processing of applications of the Defenders of the Fatherland State Fund and family members of fallen heroes on issues of training, retraining and employment.23
In 2023, issues of comprehensive support for the SMO participants and members of their families also became priority directions of work for many Russian nonprofit organizations and other public associations, which, with the wide participation of volunteers, implemented various projects to help and support military personnel located in the combat zone.
The draft of the Russian Popular Front to raise funds and humanitarian assistance to the fighters of the SMO “Everything for Victory!”
The marathon raised 67 million rubles in 14 hours in May 2023 in support of the Russian Popular Front project “Everything for Victory!”
More than 32,300 citizens and organizations donated the support of military units of Donbass.
9.8 billion rubles were collected by the project “Everything for Victory!” for soldiers on the front line since the announcement of the first fundraising in June 2022. Out of which, 3,61 billion rubles and 38,615 transactions sourced from legal entities, and 6,19 billion rubles and 3,024,864 transactions sourced from individuals.
3,063,479 people donated to the fund.24
More than 2 millionpeople by mid of 2023 sent money or donated quadcopters, thermal imagers, cars, uniforms, medicines and much more to the regional branches of the Popular Front.
The wives of military personnel participating in the special operation revived the “Zvezda and Lyra” (Star and Lyre) public foundation in Samara. The foundation works together with the Women’s Council of the Second Guards Army, which is headed by a member of the Civic Chamber, Ekaterina Kolotovkina, wife of army commander Andrei Kolotovkin. The foundation’s volunteers are mothers and wives of the SMO participants. Today, the “Zvezda and Lyra” foundation is an organized structure that collects and purchases humanitarian aid for military units. A separate direction of the foundation’s work is training programs. The foundation’s instructors teach mobilized snipers, control of unmanned aerial vehicles and tactical medicine.
More than 500 tons of humanitarian aid the “Zvezda and Lyra” foundation has sent to Russian soldiers and residents of the liberated territories since the beginning of the SMO.
Consultations, assistance and support for families of the military personnel are provided by an autonomous nonprofit organization “Committee of Families of Soldiers of the Fatherland”. The decision to create the organization was adopted on November 2, 2022 at the final “Community” forum in Moscow. The initiators were leading Russian public organizations “Women of Russia”, “Union of Military Families”, “Union of Women of Russia”, and “Mothers of Russia”.
The tasks of the organization include coordination and consolidation of the work of government agencies and public organizations in order to help military personnel and their families, ensuring communications with mothers and wives of the SMO participants, their information, legal and psychological support.
The committee’s projects, such as “Mutual Help and Support Groups”, “You are Not Alone”, and “Warmly from Home”, have proven themselves to be effective tools for helping the families of the SMO participants.
In 2023, the main offices and regional branches of the “Committee of Families of Soldiers of the Fatherland” covered the entire territory of Russia with their activities, from the Republic of Crimea to the Sakhalin region.25More than 20 initiatives proposed by representatives of the “Committee of Families of Soldiers of the Fatherland” were implemented in 2023.26
To date, many of the most urgent issues related to the aid and support of the SMO participants and members of their families have been resolved or mechanisms for their effective solution have been developed. At the same time, a number of problematic topics, including the organization of the provision of legal, social, psychological, medical, and other assistance, the expansion of various quotas, including within education, professional retraining, and the implementation of information campaigns, require additional consideration with the participation of professional and expert communities, especially at the regional level.
Currently, the Civic Chamber, in cooperation with the regional chambers, continues to work on discussing, including within the active citizens’ forum “Community”, summarizing and lodging to the competent authorities the best practices, mechanisms and formats for providing assistance to the SMO participants and their families for their further replication and scaling in the regions of the Russian Federation.
1.4Retraining, social adaptation and medical and psychological assistance to the SMO participants
In January 2023 following a meeting with mothers of military personnel, the President of Russia gave instructions to develop a program aimed at providing professional retraining,employment, rehabilitation and psychological support for people who participated in the SMO, as well as providing them with medical care n hospitals.27 The instructions reflected growing public demand for such support.
The topic of social adaptation, medical and psychological assistance in 2023 consolidated numerous public, nonprofit, professional organizations, government agencies, and departments, which by exchanging experiences, combining efforts and resources implemented projects for the integrated rehabilitation of injured participants of the SMO.
The “Defenders of the Fatherland State Fund”, together with the Agency for Social Initiatives (ASI), is implementing joint projects for the integrated rehabilitation and labor adaptation of the SMO veterans. The ASI has been supporting a project to develop exoskeletons and robotic simulators for restoring the walking skills of adults and children for several years. Today, the accumulated experience in this area is in strong demand in rehabilitation centers and military hospitals.28 Another promising area of cooperation between the fund and the agency is the participation of the SMO veterans in the ASI training programs, including within the educational digital platform “University 2035”.29
In September 2023, the support service for the SMO veterans of the Popular Front and the Federal Scientif ic and Clinical Center for Resuscitation and Rehabilitation of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation (FNCC RR) presented a joint “Return” program for combatants. The cooperation of the FNCC RR with the all- Russian social movement enables the direct evacuation of the wounded from the combat zone to the scientific and clinical center.
Supported and funded by the Presidential Grants Foundation, the “Kibatletika” Union (CybAthletics) and the team of the Russian State Social University are implementing an integrated rehabilitation program “We are building the future with CybAthletics”.30 The program includes adaptive physical education, classes in the pool, work with psychologists and rehabilitation specialists, prosthetics training, consultations on employment and training, meetings with people implementing interesting projects, as well as a cultural program.
The most important part of rehabilitation is physical education. From the first days of the SMO, the Russian Paralympic Committee, having extensive experience in socializing people through adaptive sports, has taken an active part in working with military personnel who received severe injuries and disabilities during combat operations. All regional branches of the committee, all athletes who have extensive experience in performing at domestic and international competitions, are involved in humanitarian and mentoring activities to work with combatants who received severe injuries and disabilities. Paralympians have repeatedly visited medical institutions on the territory of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics.
In 2023, the Russian Paralympic Committee developed a target program for working with combatants named “We are together. A Sport”, the purpose of which is to promote the physical and psychological rehabilitation of combat veterans.
11 master classes the Russian Paralympic Committee performed in hospitals and medical institutions of the country in adaptive sports since the beginning of the SMO.
More than 800 military personnel who were wounded during the SMO took part in these activities.31
In 2022–2023, a series of thematic events dedicated to the adaptation and medical and psychological rehabilitation of the SMO participants were held at the Civic Chamber and within active citizens’ forum “Community”.
With the broad participation from the scientific, professional and expert communities, these discussions covered the topics of integrated rehabilitation of military personnel and veterans discharged into the reserve, as well as wide opportunities for their professional retraining, professional aspects of providing psychological assistance, as well as the need to create communities to support and exchange of experience in this area. During 2023, many ideas and initiatives expressed at the events of the Civic Chamber were embodied in specif ic government decisions.
Experts of the Civic Chamber voiced over that today the system of measures of material support and social guarantees had been established. But it is still essential to develop and implement special professional retraining programs for psychologists on the basis of relevant higher education organizations. These programs should be designed to produce specialists to work with citizens engaged in military actions and create consultation and coordination centers on the adaptation of persons discharged to the reserve – the SMO participants and all citizens discharged to the reserve from the Russian armed forces – in the territories of the relevant regions of Russia.
1.5Participation of members of the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation in social projects related to the SMO
The work of members of the Civic Chamber in 2023 was featured by high involvement in projects to help and support the SMO participants and their families, residents of the new regions of Russia, and personal participation in helping soldiers on the front line and civilians living in the combat zone. The indifference and involvement of social activists has become the basis for the consolidation of citizens within the framework of the implementation of humanitarian initiatives, the formation and strengthening of a common moral spirit.
The traditional areas of implementation of humanitarian initiatives in 2023 focused on the collection and purchase of humanitarian aid.
Ilya Gerasyov, a member of the Commission of the Civic Chamber on Sovereignty, Patriotic Projects, and Support of Veterans, visited Donbass on several occasions with a humanitarian mission. During these missions he helped soldiers from the Republic of Karelia, handed over parcels and letters from relatives, provided soldiers with necessary things at their requests,32 provided assistance to hospitals, brought equipment and camouflage nets, as well as even collected exhibits to create museum collections on the events taking place in Donbass.33 Of note, a number of findings became part of the Center of Heroes of Donbass (a new museum of the SMO).
Muslim Muslimov, a member of the Commission of the Civic Chamber on Health Care, organized the delivery of new medical equipment to the Donetsk People’s Republic. During his entire work, the social activist managed to send more than 130 tons of humanitarian aid to the new regions of Russia.34
Deputy Chairman of the Commission of the Civic Chamber on Sovereignty, Patriotic Projects, and Support of Veterans, Ekaterina Kolotovkina, organized the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Lugansk People’s Republic, and also provided the children’s art school in the town of Svatovo with musical instruments.35
For his contribution to providing military medical institutions with additional dressings and medications, departmental medals and certificates from the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, as well as the People’s Council of the LPR, were awarded to the Chairman of the Commission of the Civic Chamber on Security and Cooperation with Public Supervisory Commissions, Mikhail Anichkin. Of note, Mikhail Anichkin is one of the heads of the Russian public movement “Guardians of Russia,” and from the first days of the SMO this movement has ensured the organization of regular humanitarian convoys for additional supplies of military medical products to the Lugansk and Donetsk People’s Republics. Representatives of the social movement have also taken under its patronage the Petrovskaya correctional school for children with disabilities in the LPR.
More than 178 tons of humanitarian aid to the new regions of Russia were delivered by members of the “Guardians of Russia” in 2023.
Deputy Chairman of the Commission of the Civic Chamber on Interethnic and Interreligious Relations and Migration, Margarita Liange, participated in the collection and delivery of more than three tons of humanitarian aid for four Orthodox parishes, a medical college and secondary school No. 65 in the city of Mariupol.36 The school also received an exhibition of the best photographs of participants in the all-Russian competition “Children of Russia”.
Deputy Chairman of the Commission of the Civic Chamber on Demography and Protection of Family, Children, and Traditional Family Values, Nataliya Moskvitina, is collecting aid for Donbass families. Internal refugees receive clothing and food packages as part of the “Mamino Okno” (Mother’s Window) project of the “Women for Life Foundation”.37
The dispatch of 20 humanitarian convoys to the sister city of the Samara region Snezhnoye in the DPR, as well as to the location of the 2nd Combined Arms Guards Army, was organized by Deputy Chairman of Commission of the Civic Chamber on Culture and Spiritual Heritage Preservation, Pavel Pokrovsky.38 Since February 2022, more than 500 tons of aid have been sent: basics, medicines, food, energy equipment, stoves, building materials, etc.
As part of the project “Unified Coordination Center for Assistance to Certain Categories of Citizens ‘Integration’”, supervised by a member of the Commission of the Civic Chamber on Nonprofit Sector Development, Irina Fedorova, an active work to deliver the necessary humanitarian aid to the new regions of Russia is underway. This humanitarian aid includes vehicles and technical products for military units, a wide range of medicines and personal care products, food, clothing, and building materials. The aid is provided not only to military personnel, but also to a wide category of persons in need living in the new regions. Since the launch of the “Integration” project in February 2022, more than 1,000 tons of humanitarian aid has been sent, and friendly relations have been established with a number of public organizations in the new regions.39
More than 1,500 requests received and considered by the “Integration” coordination center from residents of the new regions and internal refugees from the combat zone.
The crowd funding for purchasing spare parts for UAZ vehicles for units of the SMO, together with members of the Civic Chamber of the Arkhangelsk region was organized by a member of the Commission of the Civic Chamber on Demography and Protection of Family, Children, and Traditional Family Values, Sergey Shuvalov. In addition, social activist collected and sent more than 500 kg of aid necessary in the combat zone for military personnel of the 80th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade “Arctic” from the Murmansk region.40
The Civic Chamber helps not only people, but also animals. Of note, since March 31, 2022, on the initiative of the Chairman of the Commission of the Civic Chamber on Ecology and Sustainable Development, Elena Sharoykina, the all-Russian campaign to help zoos and animal shelters of the DPR, LPR, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions ZooFriend has been successfully run.
During the implementation of the “ZooFriend” project, it has been collected and delivered to the new regions of Russia more than 250 tons of feed, veterinary drugs, building materials, and everything necessary for animal volunteers, zoo employees, animal shelters, and even a botanical garden.
In total 14 trucks have been dispatched. They have delivered aid to more than 30 settlements in the DPR, LPR, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions.41
More than 500 local residents, who, despite the dire humanitarian situation, continue to care for animals, have received the support of “ZooFriend”.
Members of the Civic Chamber are engaged in organizing cultural and educational activities for military personnel and members of their families, as well as for residents of the new regions of Russia.
Deputy Chairman of the Commission of the Civic Chamber on Culture and Spiritual Heritage Preservation, Petr Lundstrem, gave More than 110 concerts for soldiers of the SMO
Since 2019, he has been collaborating with the Donetsk Philharmonic and regularly performs with its orchestra.
As part of the “Donetsk Smena” (Donetsk shift) project, the goal of which is the rehabilitation of children who survived military actions, the First Deputy Chairman of the Commission of the Civic Chamber on Physical Training, Sports, and Healthy Lifestyle, grandmaster Sergey Karyakin, regularly conducts simultaneous chess sessions with children from the new regions.42
First Deputy Chairman of the Commission of the Civic Chamber on Volunteerism and Youth Policy, Elena Rodionova, organized a project for children of the SMO families – “Workshop of active leisure ‘Generation Z’”. Participants of this workshop managed to undergo leadership skills training, teamwork training, visit museums in Moscow, and meet with public figures and representatives of children’s and youth associations.43
A member of the Civic Chamber, Chairman of the All-Russian Public Organization of Street Culture and Sports “Streets of Russia”, Valentin Rabotenko, during the summer 2023 organized a special tour “CARDO. The New Regions”. The project team visited Alchevsk, Lugansk, Donetsk, Mariupol, and Melitopol. The program of events included master classes in parkour, workout, skateboarding and graffiti, and meetings with local leaders of youth communities and government officials responsible for youth policy and sports.44
A member of the Civic Chamber, a famous Russian writer, Sergey Lukyanenko, takes an active part in the work of the International Literary Festival “Stars over Donbass”.
The most important direction of the efforts of the members of the Civic Chamber is informational, cultural and historical projects.
First Deputy Chairman of the Commission of the Civic Chamber on Information Community, Mass Media, and Communications, Alexander Malkevich, who is the head of the New Media Development Fund, is actively involved in the development of information and media projects in the new territories. He organizes internships for journalists, share educational materials, and provides humanitarian assistance to media representatives and talks about the heroes of Russia in his videos.45 With the support of civil activists, several TV channels operate in Mariupol,46 Zaporozhye and Kherson regions.47 In 2023, Alexander Malkevich’s original projects were also implemented. One of which is the video project “Heroes of Russian Kherson”,48 the exhibition “Liberated Territories. War and Peace in the Eyes of the Eyewitness”.49 For his active, versatile and socially useful activities in the new regions of Russia Alexander Malkevich was awarded the Order of Courage in March 2023.50
The founder of the international public tribunal for war crimes of Ukrainian nationalists and their accomplices, created on March 1, 2022 on the initiative of human rights defenders, journalists and public figures from more than 20 countries, is Maxim Grigoriev, First Deputy Chairman of Commission of the Civic Chamber on Public Oversight and Citizens’ Appeals. The main objective of the project is to collect and record evidences of crimes against civilians in the combat zone. Project team interviewed more than 600 victims and witnesses of war crimes over the past two years.51
The creation of patriotic content on modern media platforms, aimed at informing residents of other regions of Russia about the events taking place in the Donbass. This direction is also run by First Deputy Chairman of the Commission of the Civic Chamber on Nonprofit Sector Development, Ekaterina Agranovich. Together with a team of professional designers, the social activist creates new symbols and implements street art projects. In 2023 implemented more than 100 creative projects
As part of Ekaterina Agranovich’s “Infoschool” project, schoolchildren in the new regions are told about methods for creating interesting patriotic content.52
Deputy Chairman of the Commission of the Civic Chamber on Territorial Development, Urban Environment, and Infrastructure, father of Senior Guard Lieutenant Vladislav Lukonin (fell during a combat mission of the SMO and posthumously awarded the Order of Courage by Executive Order of the President of Russia), Alexander Lukonin, is an expert in the field of unmanned aerial vehicles and other technical means used for military purposes. At the site of the Committee of Families of Soldiers of the Fatherland, he supports popular initiatives aimed at commemorating the memory of the fallen heroes of the Fatherland.
The First Deputy Chairman of the Commission of the Civic Chamber on Volunteerism and Youth Policy, Elena Rodionova, organizes expeditions to restore historical monuments in the DPR and LPR. In 2022, as part of the projects “In the Name of Tomorrow” and “In the Name of Tomorrow. Leaders of Change”, 40 monuments and mass graves from the Great Patriotic War were restored, and by the end of 2023 more than 30 monuments and memorial plates were renovated.53
Thanks to the great popularity of the photo project “Wives of Heroes”, initiated by Deputy Chairman of the Commission of the Civic Chamber on Sovereignty, Patriotic Projects, and Support of Veterans, Ekaterina Kolotovkina, the Samara relief fund “Zvezda and Lyra” gained all-Russian commendation. The heroines of the photo project “Wives of Heroes” are wives, brides, and mothers of the SMO participants.54
All-Russian photo project “Wives of Heroes”
More than 15 thousand people
from 83 regions of the country participated in the photo project55
First Vice President of the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation, Hero of Russia, Vyacheslav Bocharov, was one of the first members of the Civic Chamber to speak out in support of the special military operation. On February 28, 2022, he initiated an open appeal “Together with the President and the country!”, which was signed by tens of thousands of public figures. At the Civic Chamber Vyacheslav Bocharov supervises the work with appeals from military personnel and their families, regularly visits hospitals, and meets with wounded soldiers. In 2023, as Vice President of the Russian Paralympic Committee, the First Vice President of the Civic Chamber was actively involved in organizing work on the physical and psychological rehabilitation of combat veterans.
The project of Deputy Chairman of the Commission of the Civic Chamber on Public Examination of Bills and Other Regulatory Documents, Alexander Ternovtsov, is dedicated to providing free legal assistance to the SMO participants and their families. As part of the project, since March 2023, lawyers of the Public Legal Organization “Man and the Law” have been considering citizens’ appeals received through the website of the Civic Chamber and providing assistance on legal issues.
Project “Legal Assistance to the SMO Participants and Their Families”
Legal assistance received by 89 persons — provided 50 oral and 32 written consultations; provided legal support in 5 legal proceedings, 100% of which were decided in favor of plaintiffs.
First Deputy Chairman of the Commission of the Civic Chamber on Agroindustrial Complex and Rural Areas Development, Chairman of the “People’s Farmer” Association, Oleg Sirota, takes an active part in solving the problems faced by farmers in the new regions. Traveling to the liberated territories, Oleg Sirota and his team conduct legal consultations and training events, the purpose of which is to train farmers to work in the Russian legal framework: how pay taxes, apply for subsidies and receive appropriate support.
Thanks to the work of farmer support centers organized by the “People’s Farmer” Association:
more than 200 farmers were able to re-register their enterprises;
500 agricultural entrepreneurs received compensation for expenses totaling more than 600 million rubles
The coordination of work to support nonprofit organizations in the new regions is carried out by Chairman of the Commission of the Civic Chamber on Nonprofit Sector Development, Elena Topoleva-Soldunova. This large-scale and multidirectional work includes the creation of resource centers to support public initiatives, the formation of a unified base of organizations that help and are ready to help the development of the third sector, as well as conducting training seminars on the formation and development of NPOs in the new regions.
Under the leadership of Dmitry Paramonov, commander of the Central Office of the “Russian Student Detachments”, a member of the Commission of the Civic Chamber on Sovereignty, Patriotic Projects, and Support of Veterans, a program for developing the activities of Donbass student detachments is being implemented on the territory of the new regions. As part of the implementation of this program, active efforts are being made to form central offices of student teams in the new regions, and also distribute aid to local residents.
A member of the Commission of the Civic Chamber on Enlightenment and Upbringing, Evgeniy Kozeev, is implementing the “Moscow- VSKS-Donbass” project (VSKS stands for All- Russian Student Rescue Corps), which provides emergency restoration work in residential buildings damaged as a result of attacks by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Members of the Civic Chamber regularly provide targeted aid to those in need, namely citizens living on the territory of the new regions, internal refugees, military personnel, and members of their families.
The Deputy Chairman of the Commission of the Civic Chamber on Public Examination of Bills and Other Regulatory Documents, Alexander Ternovtsov, helped financially a mother of the deceased serviceman from the Kursk region.56 Another member of the Civic Chamber, Alexander Lukonin, helped one of the SMO fighters to solve a similar problem. The Deputy Chairman of the Commission of the Civic Chamber on Demography and Protection of Family, Children, and Traditional Family Values, Nataliya Kiryuhina, helped a refugee from the Kherson region obtain custody of her child.57
First Vice President of the Civic Chamber, Hero of Russia, Vyacheslav Bocharov, helped a serviceman from the Lipetsk region receive the required cash benefit,58 monitored the receipt of payments under the mortgage system for a demobilized person from the Altai region,59 and also assisted in organizing adaptive classes for a serviceman from the Belgorod region who had lost his sight.60
The First Deputy Chairman of the Commission of the Civic Chamber on Information Community, Mass Media, and Communications, Alexander Malkevich, privately provides help to residents of the new territories, soldiers and their families. The social activist has repeatedly delivered humanitarian aid to the Zaporozhye region,61 the Kherson region,62 and also to the city of Shebekino.63 At the beginning of 2023, he took part in the “Become Ded Moroz (Father Frost)” campaign. This campaign allowed students of the Orthodox Education Center named after. St. Sergius, including children from Donbass, to receive New Year’s gifts and sweets from the social activist.64 Moreover, Alexander Malkevich helped a seriously ill pensioner from the Kherson region. He provided her with the necessary medications and secured her transfer to a hospital under the supervision of doctors.65 The social activist also supported journalists who fearlessly worked in the zone of the special military operation: during one of his trips to the Donetsk People’s Republic, Alexander Malkevich gave them packages with food, clothing and other useful things.66