If there are no disability payments or awards, can I at least get a parrot on my shoulder to fit the image? says Konstantin, a former Russian soldier who lost his leg during the war in Ukraine, in a discuss social media.Konstantin is attending to the state-run Defenders of the Fatherland Foundation, which helps Russian veterans reintegrate into civilian life including those who lost arms or legs in the full-scale invasion.According to Russias Labor Ministry, a minimum of 54% of soldiers who have disabilities after fighting in Ukraine are amputees.
Even federal government officials acknowledge the scale of the issue.Thats a lot.
We dont see this percentage of amputations amongst civilians with disabilities, said Alexei Vovchenko, deputy labor and social protection minister.The Defenders of the Fatherland Foundation, created in 2023 by the individual decree of President Vladimir Putin, is headed by Deputy Defense Minister Anna Tsivilyova reportedly a relative of Putins.Starting in 2025, the structure plans to promote the image of Russian veterans with impairments and amputations as heroes with enhanced abilities, Tsivilyova stated at a recent meeting.On social networks, the structure shares stories of veterans who have received prosthetics through its programs.But in the comments under these stories, soldiers relatives regularly complain about postponed payments and surgeries; unanswered requests to the structure and government authorities; and efforts to find missing soldiers.And in the long term, much of these males will grapple with social stigma and re-adjusting to civilian life.Why is whatever always painted so perfectly online when real life is absolutely nothing like that? We sent files to the structure for additional payments on December 25, 2024 its now completion of March 2025! an injured soldiers relative complains in a comment under a post about car giveaways.When a soldier is wounded on the front line, medics evacuate them from the battlefield.
When it comes to severe injuries such as shrapnel wounds to the leg or stepping on a landmine field medical professionals at military health centers typically perform amputations on the spot.After amputation, soldiers are moved to healthcare facilities in Rostov-on-Don, St.
Petersburg or Moscow for additional surgery.From there, they undergo rehabilitation at a Defense Ministry healing center, the biggest of which is Voronovo, situated simply outside Moscow.
Six hundred former soldiers are currently being treated at the center, which was developed throughout the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
At Voronovo, veterans stay in comfy double rooms with personal showers, TVs and internet access, journalists from the independent outlet Vyorstka revealed.Men with prosthetic legs in a rehabilitation center for Russian servicemen who combated in Ukraine.Alexander Shcherbak/ TASSDisabled soldiers are served meals from Vkusno i Tochka, the fast-food chain that replaced McDonalds in Russia following the intrusion, and are allowed to smoke.
However, the rehab buildings do not have sufficient elevators to accommodate wounded veterans.
Nor are family members are allowed onto the facilitys grounds.Previously, Russian soldiers hurt on the battleground were entitled to a one-time payment of 3 million rubles ($35,300).
In November 2024, Putin approved a tiered system based upon the severity of the injury, ranging from 1 million rubles (about $12,000) for minor injuries to 3 million rubles for extreme ones.While the soldiers go through rehab and get suitabled for prosthetics, the Defense Ministry continues to pay their wages, stated Olesya Gerasimenko, an independent reporter and editor-in-chief of the Punctuation Marks releasing house.Once they receive a main disability category, they arent sent back to Ukraine if the injury is major.
Instead, theyre used positions in draft workplaces, barracks or rear systems inside Russia.
But that includes a very different income 40,000 to 70,000 rubles [ $437 to $835], not the 250,000 to 300,000 [$ 2,954 to $3,571] they had gotten utilized to, Gerasimenkotold The Moscow Times after talking to lots of veterans.Or military workers can resign, terminate their agreement with the Defense Ministry and search for a task in civilian life, she said.While these soldiers undergo rehabilitation, their wives try to browse the administration seeking state settlement and figuring out how to get their hubbies formally released from military service so they are no longer counted as active-duty personnel.There havent been any payments yet, the system declines to speak with my partner; nobody is going to release him.
Hes still in the health center and we require cash for rehab, writes the partner of one wounded soldier on VKontakte.Ukraine war veterans in sled hockey equipment supplied by the Defenders of the Fatherland Foundation.fond _ ZO/ TelegramThe federal government has actually turned to sports as a way to support these returning soldiers.
The Defenders of the Fatherland Foundation now arranges athletic competitions for amputee veterans, works with popular Paralympians to train wounded troops and provides prosthetics and high-end presents like hand-controlled cars.Notably, the president supported the concept of promoting adaptive sports, Tsivilyova said after a recent meeting with Putin.In mid-March, the structure startedpurchasing devices for sled hockey, a sport for men who lost legs during the war in Ukraine.Sled hockey brought me back to a complete life and at the same time, it sustained my inner drive to win! says former soldier Aman Aymukhambetov, captain of the Omsk Wings sled hockey team.Hockey is one of Putins preferred sports, in addition to sambo but its far from the only choice for Russian veterans with disabilities.The Defenders of the Fatherland Foundation also offers combat veterans training in alpine skiing and even wheelchair curling.This spring, 360 former soldiers from 60 regions participated in a sporting competition called the Defenders of the Fatherland Cup.Your lungs are rupturing in your chest, however you must press through it, pro-war vocalist Oleg Gazmanov singsto wounded soldiers in the competitions anthem.
Remarks under the foundations post promoting the new anthem have been disabled.In parallel with the Cup, the structure launched a program called Rehabilitation Through Sport, which provides prosthetics for amputee soldiers and then sends them to train at a ski resort in the Kemerovo area of Siberia.The effort is supported by Rostec, the state-owned conglomerate that develops and exports state-of-the-art commercial items, mainly for the defense sector.We have over 40 events and competitions on the calendar this year for veterans with specials needs, per the instructions of our president, said Sports Minister Mikhail Degtyarev.Russias Paralympic Committee is likewise directly involved in supporting injured soldiers.
Its We Are Together.
Sport program has gotten presidential funding since2023.
In early 2025, the initiative was awarded another federal government grant of 12.5 million rubles (almost $150,000).
Over the previous 2 years, 750 injured participants in the intrusion of Ukraine have gone through rehab through sport.To join training sessions with Paralympians, veterans should complete a special survey.
In addition to height and shoe size, guys are asked to information how they were hurt, note their awards and military ranks and show their impairment classification.The online form can not be submitted without an official battle veteran ID number which is acquired by means of a long, complicated process.Despite the very best efforts of propaganda and state-backed structures, veterans who return home with disabilities or amputations often have a hard time to adjust to civilian life.These soldiers feel deserted, Gerasimenko informed The Moscow Times.They didnt get the affection and respect from civilians that specify propaganda had actually led them to expect.
Some said that people on buses physically recoiled from them when they saw someone in consistent missing a leg.Beyond the social preconception they face, a number of these men are not able to imagine a future on their own outside of the war, Gerasimenko said.Even before the war, numerous contract soldiers didnt have a clear worldview, Gerasimenko described.
Thats part of the factor they wound up on the cutting edge.
Signing an agreement with the Defense Ministry was one of the few significant decisions in their lives an effort to discover some kind of purpose.They generally understand precisely how theyll spend the cash: consumer goods, from new video gaming consoles to vehicles and apartments, specifically if they have a family, Gerasimenko said.
Beyond that what job to do, how to incorporate their impairment into everyday life, what kind of family future awaits they have no idea.
They have no vision of the future.