The working group on issues of military defense submitted to the State Duma a draft law on reducing the time for recognizing military personnel as missing or dead.
This will allow the families of SVO participants to receive the required payments and benefits faster.
A member of the working group, State Duma deputy Dmitry Vyatkin, in an interview with RT, recalled that, in accordance with current legislation, it is possible to recognize a soldier dead only two years after the end of hostilities.
“Obviously, this story is simply unacceptable - [this rule] is simply impossible to apply now, when a special military operation is underway.
The current procedure actually makes it impossible for the families of those who disappeared at the front to receive social support measures, social payments, as well as addressing inheritance issues, resolving issues of obtaining a survivor's pension, and much more, ”explained Vyatkin.
According to the parliamentarian, the working group proposes to reduce the term for recognizing the military as missing to six months, as well as to reduce the term for recognizing military personnel as dead.
The bill also provides for the simplification of the issuance of death certificates for military personnel.
Andrey Turchak, head of the working group on NVO issues, First Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council and Secretary of the General Council of the United Russia party, explained in his Telegram channel that if the bill is passed, a statement from the commander who saw him die will be enough to recognize the fighter as dead.
“If there are no direct witnesses, but the person is missing, his recognition as missing will not take more than six months.
After receiving the status of a missing person, family members will be able to initiate the procedure for recognizing the fighter as dead through the court, ”Turchak wrote.
He also clarified that the new regulation will affect cases that occurred after February 24, 2022.
“We hope that the State Duma will consider these bills as quickly as possible,” the deputy stressed.
Reduction of terms
In total, the working group on NWO issues submitted two bills to the State Duma for consideration.
The first concerns directly changing the terms and procedure for recognizing servicemen as missing or dead.
The explanatory note to the bill states that the changes are supposed to be extended to "a wide category of citizens who participated in the SVO or could be in the SVO zone."
“The rules of the draft law apply to citizens who participated in the course of an armed operation on the state border of the Russian Federation and the border territories of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation adjacent to the areas of the special military operation, apply to persons who have concluded a contract on voluntary assistance in the performance of tasks assigned to the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Federation, as well as to citizens who lived in the respective territories, ”the document says.
According to the bill, if within six months there is no information about the whereabouts of a serviceman, and the command and personnel cannot claim that the person has died, they can recognize him as missing.
In the event that a soldier has disappeared under life-threatening circumstances - for example, after a shell hit a building or vehicle - his relatives can go to court, outlining these circumstances, and demand that he be declared dead.
Information about the death of military personnel
The second bill proposes to amend the procedure for issuing death certificates for servicemen.
To obtain such a document, it will be enough for the commander of the deceased soldier, who saw that he died, to apply to the registry office or the MFC.
“The commander of a military unit is obliged to declare death orally or in writing to a civil registry office or a multifunctional center if death occurred not only during the period of military service, but also during military service during the period of mobilization, during the period martial law and in wartime, or military training during martial law and wartime,” reads the explanatory note to the bill.
He also suggests that death certificates for military personnel will be able to issue not only medical authorities, as is happening now, but also "other authorized persons."
The document states that after the issuance of a certificate and registration of death, the family of the deceased soldier will be able to claim all social payments, benefits and guarantees required by law.
The provisions of the bill will also apply to military personnel killed before the day the proposed regulation takes effect.
Lawyer's opinion
Military specialist, head of the anti-corruption public movement Roman Pronin praised the initiative to reduce the time for recognizing military personnel as missing or dead.
According to him, the current legislation, according to which a military man can be declared dead only two years after the end of hostilities, does not allow the families of soldiers to exercise their rights in a timely manner and in full.
“[If the bill is adopted], the state will be able to immediately ensure the implementation of benefits, rights that are guaranteed by the current legislation for the families of missing and dead soldiers.
This will remove bureaucratic delays.
Therefore, this law will only play a positive role.
This topic is extremely relevant,” the expert stated.
The interlocutor of RT added that now the recognition of a soldier as dead is possible only through a court - this is a long and laborious procedure, during which the family still cannot claim payments and social support measures.
However, there is no guarantee that the court will satisfy the claim at all.
“In my practice, there were cases when colleagues saw with their own eyes how a soldier died, but they could not pick up the corpse or could not identify the body.
And the court refused to recognize such a person as dead.
This, in my opinion, is an unfair situation that needs to be changed, ”concluded Pronin.