Putin signs laws giving widows and widowers of fallen Russian soldiers free university enrollment and extending other war benefits
Russian President Vladimir Putin on April 25 signed three laws extending benefits to the families of servicemen killed in the war, seriously wounded Rosgvardiya personnel, and workers who have returned from military service.
The first amends Russia’s education law to give widows and widowers of fallen servicemen the right to enroll in universities and colleges tuition-free, admitted under a separate quota without entrance exams.
The second extends travel benefits to families of Rosgvardiya personnel, allowing two family members or two close relatives to travel free of charge to wherever a seriously wounded serviceman is receiving treatment. The Russian business daily Kommersant reported that the benefit already applies to the families of military personnel and volunteers.
The third amends Article 179 of the Labor Code to shield from layoffs employees who have returned from military service following mobilization or the expiration of a contract during a period of martial law.
The bill granting widows and widowers of fallen Russian servicemen a “preferential right” to enroll in universities and colleges tuition-free was introduced in the lower house of Russia’s parliament in August 2025 by Nina Ostanina, who chairs the lower house committee on family protection, and who authored the legislation. It passed its first reading in January 2026, then cleared its second and third — and final — readings in quick succession in mid-April.
Russian universities are required to reserve at least 10 percent of state-funded places for war veterans and their children. More than two thousand people enrolled in state-funded spots at 18 of Russia’s top universities under that quota in 2024; in 2025, the figure rose to nearly three thousand applicants, according to calculations by the independent Russian investigative outlet iStories.
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