Veterans’ Policy in Russia: a Puzzle of Creation

Every war creates a new “lost generation”, veterans of wars and military operations. After the end of wars, states develop different ways of rewarding ex-soldiers for their service to the state. This paper analyzes veterans’ policy in the Soviet Union, its transformation after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the new veterans’ policy in modern Russia. The paper reviews different historical stages in developing a veterans’ policy, and examines the main differences among the population of veterans. It outlines how the position of the most preferred group, the veterans of the Great Patriotic War, is supported by politics and expressed in civil-military relations. Further, the paper shows the gradual development in the welfare of veterans for other subgroups of veterans. In conclusion, it discusses the consequences of the modern veterans’ system in Russia.