On April 6, 2024, russian President Putin passed two laws to support russian Armed Forces personnel fighting in Ukraine and their families. The first law exempted russian service personnel fighting in Ukraine from paying interest on consumer loans and credit holidays. This follows on from an October 2022 law which exempted mobilized personnel and other participants of the russian invasion of Ukraine from accruing penalties for late payments for housing, communal services, loans and credit card debts, the UK Defense Intelligence reports.
The second piece of legislation signed by Putin amended the russian Labour Code and prohibits employers from dismissing widows of russian service personnel for one year from the date of the husband’s death.
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The Kremlin has likely instituted these laws in hopes of appeasing russian service personnel, financially incentivizing more recruits to join the fight in exchange for state benefits and to limit criticism from the wives of deceased service personnel. Whilst any payment holidays may cost the russian federal government little in the short term, they are likely to have longer term implications for the russian economic situation and outlook.
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