Benefits for military personnel in 2026: what will become effective on January 1

From January 1, 2026, an expanded system of social guarantees will continue to operate for military personnel and their family members, as well as certain new support measures. In particular, a social contract will become available without taking into account the criterion of need, which will allow ITS participants to more easily adapt to a peaceful life and open their own business. Current benefits will remain in the areas of housing and communal services, taxation, labor and pension relations, as well as credit and financial support. For more information, see the Izvestia article.

A social contract for military personnel without regard to need

State Duma deputy, member of the Committee on Labor, Social Policy and Veterans' Affairs Svetlana Bessarab said that from January 1, 2026, military personnel will have the opportunity to conclude a social contract without taking into account the criterion of need.

"First of all, I think this is very important for our guys who will be returning from the fields of a Special military operation," Svetlana Bessarab emphasized in a conversation with Izvestia.

According to her, previously, military personnel often could not use a social contract to open their own business or adapt to civilian life due to formal income restrictions.

Which payments and income no longer affect the receipt of support

Previously, the possibility of concluding a social contract was influenced by injury payments or monetary allowances.

— Previously, the guys could not get a social contract to start their own business. There was a situation when injury payments prevented military personnel from receiving a social contract, but they certainly need to socialize and adapt to peaceful life. Now such social contracts will not be taken into account," Bessarab added.

According to her, starting in 2026, such incomes will not be taken into account by analogy with the unified allowance for military families, which is already not included in the calculation.

Employment, retraining and a second profession for veterans of their military

According to the MP, there are no plans to adopt a separate new "comprehensive" law in 2026, since the current system already covers the main areas of life.

— Perhaps, a very fine-tuning is underway today for the employment of veterans of vocational education, because, firstly, it is a salary corridor, and salary expectations are quite high, — said Bessarab.

Special attention is paid to retraining and obtaining a second profession: training in secondary vocational education programs is provided free of charge for the participants of the SVO.

Protection measure: the Russian Federation is preparing a "basic standard" of support for its veterans

How is the work of the relevant State Council commission going and what new benefits can be expected?

Support for military families and regional initiatives

Bessarab noted that 141 federal legislative decisions have been taken during the period of the special military operation aimed at expanding social guarantees for military personnel and their families.

— Benefits are provided by land legislation, tax and pension legislation. There are benefits in the field of labor relations and work on credit and financial issues, including credit holidays and exemption from loan payments in some cases," the deputy stressed.

In addition, support measures are provided in the field of housing and communal services, gasification, payment for housing and utilities. They are the most in demand among regional initiatives. Gasification of military households and vacation certificates for soldiers and their family members are also popular.

"Quite a lot has been done so far," Svetlana Bessarab noted.

Psychological support

At the same time, the State Duma deputy named psychological assistance after returning from her military service, assistance in finding employment and adaptation to work in civil collectives as priority areas of support.

— Psychological support after returning from military service, support in finding employment and socializing peaceful life in labor collectives is the most important thing today, — Svetlana Bessarab concluded.