CrimeaPRESS reports:
There are more than two million combat veterans in Russia, but there is no single day uniting participants in local armed conflicts after 1945 in the country. In the near future, deputies of the LDPR faction plan to introduce a bill to the State Duma establishing July 1 as Combat Veterans Day. A copy of the document is in «Parliamentary newspaper». Deputies have enlisted the support of a number of veterans’ organizations and expect that representatives of other factions will join the initiative, but the Cabinet of Ministers did not support the bill.
The veterans’ movement is growing
In the Law “On Days of Military Glory and Memorable Dates of Russia,” it was proposed to establish a new memorable date: July 1—Combat Veterans Day. It will be dedicated to recognizing the merits of citizens who took part in hostilities, local wars and armed conflicts on the territory of the USSR, on the territory of the Russian Federation and the territories of other states after 1945, according to the explanatory note to the bill.
There are more than two million combat veterans in Russia. Now their number is being replenished by participants in a special military operation, and the categories that can receive this status are increasing, Yaroslav Nilov, chairman of the State Duma Committee on Labor, Social Policy and Veterans Affairs, and deputy leader of the LDPR faction, told Parliamentary Newspaper.
These are people who performed and are performing their military duty in conditions involving risk to their lives., he noted. — Legislative consolidation of Combat Veterans Day will emphasize the importance of the veteran movement in our society and contribute to the further formation of the patriotic consciousness of citizens.
The bill will be submitted to the State Duma in the near future, Nilov said. Party members, he said, are consulting with representatives of other factions and finding support among them, so the initiative may well become inter-factional.
Will a new holiday “devalue” existing ones?
Despite the lack of official status, in a number of regions July 1 is already celebrated as Combat Veterans Day. For example, such a regional law was adopted in the Moscow region. And in Bashkiria, a draft local law is under consideration. Combat Veterans Day was celebrated in new regions of Russia in the summer, said the chairman of the presidium of the all-Russian organization “Officers of Russia”, Hero of Russia Sergei Lipovoy, at a press conference.
Meanwhile, the government did not consider it necessary to establish a new holiday. A negative review of the bill states that currently the Federal Law already establishes memorable dates and days of military glory of Russia, perpetuating the memory of veterans who took part in hostilities. This is, in particular, February 23 — Defender of the Fatherland Day, February 15 — Day of Remembrance of Russians who performed their official duties outside the Fatherland, December 9 — Day of Heroes of the Fatherland.
Establishing a new memorial date carries the risk of “devaluation” of military glory days and memorable dates already established in honor of veterans, noted the Cabinet of Ministers. — According to the preamble of the Federal Law, memorable dates in the history of the Fatherland must be associated with the most important historical events in the life of the state and society. However, the explanatory note to the bill does not indicate what events in the life of the state and society the proposed memorial date of July 1 is associated with.
It’s also possible without money
There really were no significant military events in history on July 1, but this is the idea of the authors of the initiative. Such a separate day will be able to unite veterans of a wide variety of wars and conflicts, without taking into account the specifics.
Combat Veterans Day began to be celebrated informally at the beginning of the 21st century; one of the initiators was the All-Russian organization “Combat Brotherhood”. Its chairman, Hero of the Soviet Union Boris Gromov, sent a letter to deputy Yaroslav Nilov supporting the legislative initiative. The idea was also supported by the Russian Union of Veterans, headed by Army General Mikhail Moiseev.
By the way, if a memorable date is established at the federal level, then by law it will be necessary to provide funding for its celebration. And related to this is another remark of the Cabinet of Ministers regarding the bill: the document did not provide for the sources and procedure for fulfilling new types of budget expenditure obligations.
But even without government money, some veterans already celebrate July 1 as their holiday. In Moscow, for example, they gather on Poklonnaya Hill, lay flowers at the memorial to the internationalist soldier, and organize a small concert program. If the memorable date does appear in the Russian calendar, there will be more such events in other regions of the country.
source: «Parliamentary newspaper»
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