"Army of homeless people": who will solve the issue of apartments for military personnel?

Irina Mishina

It all started with an appeal to the editorial office of "NI" Air Force Captain Georgy Safyannikov, who has been waiting for an apartment for many years. He handed us a petition with a request to resolve the housing issue of servicemen and military pensioners, filed in the name of Putin. The military figures in it with their stories are just a small part of the apartment-less. On January 1, the Presidential Decree "On the establishment of the regular strength of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation" came into force, which established the number of military personnel: 1,150,628 people. From 42 to 45 thousand of them have no housing. Thus, almost every 25th military man today does not have his own apartment.

Military pensioners: "We have to hide from the precinct"

The history of each of the apartment buildings is a separate human tragedy. To understand it, you need to know: the military is tied to the place of service. In accordance with the order, they change the location and, accordingly, the service apartments. And then the military retire, or they are dismissed to the reserve at the age limit, and they remain abandoned, in rented apartments, without their own housing. In fact, the officers are nomads. But they are the same people as everyone else, they have families, children who need normal, decent housing conditions. In addition, without a permanent residence permit, you will not receive any benefits or regional allowances, you will not use maternity capital for children and you will not even vote.

From an Appeal to the President filed on behalf of citizens discharged from military service, recognized as needing housing subsidies or apartments during military service, but not provided with housing.

Cholpan Igor Petrovich, military pensioner, veteran of military service, in the Armed Forces for more than 24 years: "He remained registered with his family at a non-existent military unit, there is no opportunity to participate in regional and federal elections. We constantly have to hide from the district police officer, since there is no permanent registration".

Igor Vladimirovich Pryadukhin, military pensioner, combat veteran, veteran of military service: "27 years of service in the Western Military District. Constant moving from city to city, changing garrisons, all my life I didn't have my own home. All health is left in the army. When I leave and retire, I still do not have my own housing, I have to live with my children in rented apartments".

Proshakov Yevgeny Anatolyevich, a veteran of military service, has been in the Armed Forces for more than 23 years: "He remained registered with his family at the headquarters of a closed military unit, where there is not even a polyclinic. We moved to another region, we rent a house. The youngest son was not taken to school in the city due to temporary registration, we take him to the village. Constant fear that the owner will ask to vacate the apartment".

Ammunition is more important than people?

It cannot be said that the state does not care about the military completely. In 2014, the so-called military subsidy was introduced. Article 15 of the Federal Law "On the Status of Military Personnel" stipulates that a subsidy can be provided to a serviceman and his family members. But only on condition that they belong to those in need of living space in accordance with Article 51 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation. That is, only if a serviceman does not have a living space belonging to him by right of ownership or there is not enough living space for each person. But housing is getting more expensive every year, and subsidies are not enough for modern square meters. Plus, the queue has been going very slowly, for decades, and from time to time out-of-turn combatants and their widows get into it.

"I have been standing in line since 2019, and I have 24 thousand more military families in front of me. The 2016 queue has not been closed yet. People have been waiting for a military subsidy or an apartment for decades. The budget for these purposes has not been increased since 2014, that is, 37 billion has been allocated, and it is being allocated. But the cost per square meter of housing has increased sharply compared to 2014, therefore, the number of people receiving subsidies has decreased. In addition, there is also a cumulative mortgage system: if you have served for 3 years, you can apply for a mortgage, it will be paid by the state. But this norm has been introduced since 2005, so everyone who applied for housing earlier was left "overboard", - says Air Force Captain Georgy Safyannikov.

There is another problem: you can get housing "in kind", that is, an apartment, or spend the allocated money on housing construction. But few apartments have been built recently. In Lipetsk, for example, there are three unfinished houses in a military town, the developer either went bankrupt, or left. Now these houses are without interior decoration, without glass, abandoned and are not needed by anyone. Just like people...

"We are such a "stratum" that has not received permanent housing, cannot get a mortgage, and there is no money for us now to give us a subsidy. They don't want to listen to us and solve our problem. You can't reach the top", - says Air Force Captain Georgy Safyannikov.

As for "getting to the top", the situation is really not easy. A collective request was sent by the "quarterless" military to the name of reserve Lieutenant General, State Duma deputy Andrei Gurulev. He promised to help, but then said that he could not help.

"What is more important now – to provide housing or to provide military personnel with ammunition for special operations? The answer is obvious. If your question has not been solved in 8 years, it will not be solved now, it is not done in 1 day. I sent a request to the Ministry of Defense, but the answer is obvious. When the budget was calculated, they realized that it was more important to buy ammunition for their own. It is more important that our people win. You'll have to endure for a long time, I'm telling the truth. First we have to win", - State Duma deputy, Reserve Lieutenant General Andrey Gurulev told the military.

"Now we are told that due to the difficult situation in the country, there is no money for you. So why is there no money only for us, and the military, who are on a mortgage, have money? Why are we treated as waste and unnecessary material? Thrown out on the street, live as you want. Why should our children live on temporary residence permits, without their own room in the apartment? Why do we have to rent apartments and work to pay for them?  Yes, I agree that the situation is difficult now, but something is always happening in our country: the annexation of Crimea, Syria, the DPR, the LPR...  And every time we are told: "Wait"", - said the Air Force captain, housing waiting list Georgy Safyannikov.

"Money is taken from the budget. The budget is shared in the Ministry of Defense – for housing, for combat readiness and weapons. Now everything is going to a special operation", - explains Police Lieutenant General Alexander Mikhailov, - But you can't forget about people. And in order to lobby for their interests, the authorities need interested people. Today we have those who have been chosen".

At the same time, at the end of 2022, the State Duma adopted a mysterious law allowing the transfer of unclaimed housing to beneficiaries, which was intended for retired military personnel. The explanatory note to the document clarifies that today some of the apartments intended for the military remain unclaimed. Among the reasons are the death of servicemen, refusal of an apartment or moving to a new place of residence. Veterans of the Great Patriotic War, families of disabled children, veterans of military operations will be able to get orphan housing. But why do they leave quite specific people standing in line for an apartment without housing?

"We are an army of homeless people"

Appeals of military "who awaits" to higher authorities are appeals to a vacuum: everyone receives the same type of unsubscriptions from the Ministry of Defense. The same impersonal phrase appears in them: "Your right to housing will be realized by providing housing subsidies in accordance with the priority, which is determined by the date of acceptance of the serviceman on the account of those in need".

NI also sent a request to the Ministry of Defense with a request to clarify and specify the issue of military housing waiting lists. At the time of publication, no response was received. If it arrives, we will certainly publish it. In the meantime, the apartment-less military complain on social networks.

From the Telegram channel of military personnel waiting to receive housing.

Yuri Nikolaevich: "When you serve, you are needed, and when you were kicked out of retirement, no one needs you, and if it comes to getting housing, then don't even approach at all".

Feldwebel: "We are needed when Chechnya, Syria, its... And so - thrown out and forgotten… And the civilian people, seeing the attitude towards us, shun the army".

Dmitry: "Yes, no one needs us, we are waste material.!!!!  And mortgagees are needed to drive them into bondage...In the dry balance - an army of homeless people thanks to the state and the authorities".

Military waiting lists have estimated that 500 billion rubles will be needed to solve the issues of this entire queue. Someone will say, "A lot". But this is about the same amount that Roman Abramovich received when selling Chelsea football club. And this is quite comparable to the amounts that Moscow, for example, spends annually on controversial chords and doublers that destroy the ecology of the city. The question arises: if the state cannot help people with housing who provided and ensure their safety, who should this state rely on?