Volunteers perpetuating the memory of victims during the Great Patriotic War will receive additional support measures.

© Государственная Дума

Commemorating the memory of victims of genocide against the Soviet people will become a charitable and volunteer activity. The State Duma has adopted in the first reading the bill "On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation", according to which the list of volunteer activities will be supplemented. Non-profit organizations (NPOs) that engage in search work in this area and establish the names of the victims will be able to obtain the status of socially-oriented organizations.

The State Duma explained that thanks to the bill, citizens and organizations that commemorate the memory of victims who suffered from Nazis and their accomplices during the Great Patriotic War will be able to count on additional measures of state support. These include, for example, the right to free use of premises, compensation for communication expenses without taxation, payment for travel, medical insurance, and others.

"Public activists and non-profit organizations make an important contribution to the commemoration of the memory of victims of genocide against the Soviet people. Their work within the framework of the Project helped collect evidence for Russian courts to make decisions recognizing the actions of German-Fascist troops on the occupied territories of the USSR during the Great Patriotic War as genocide. Public activists found previously unknown places of mass executions, identified archival documents confirming the atrocities of the occupiers against the peaceful Soviet population, provided assistance in searching for witnesses of the committed crimes for their further participation in court hearings, and conducted cultural and educational events and clean-up actions at memorial sites," — it is also stated in the explanatory note.