Putin urged to prepare for the return of Russian military from the front

Russian President Vladimir Putin has stated that the Russian authorities need to prepare in advance for the return of military personnel from the front after the end of the war and address the issue of their further employment.

Putin said this on August 19 at a meeting of the Council for Strategic Development and National Projects in the Kremlin. In the official transcript of the meeting the Russian president called the return of military personnel a separate issue that will arise after the end of the so-called special military operation.

"There is another issue that will arise. This is the issue of the return of our guys from the line of combat contact after the end of the special military operation", Putin said.

According to him, this concerns a large number of people who will need work upon their return. The Russian president urged to begin preparing for this in advance.

"And there are many people, they need to be employed, and they will come with healthy ambitions and so on. This is serious work that needs to be prepared for in advance", Putin said.

The employment issue is being discussed amid a personnel shortage

The statement came during a discussion of structural changes in the Russian economy until 2030. At the same meeting, Putin spoke about the shortage of workers in certain sectors and the need to increase labor productivity through automation, industrial robots and artificial intelligence technologies.

Thus, the Russian authorities simultaneously expect a continued labor shortage in parts of the economy and begin to take into account the future entry of a significant number of military personnel into the civilian labor market.

Preparation for their employment had begun before the current statement. In previously published Kremlin instructions to the government and the "Defenders of the Fatherland" Foundation, they were ordered to organize professional training and employment of war participants, including those with engineering and technical specialties.

In addition, the Russian authorities instructed the regions to develop programs for training, retraining and subsequent employment of returned military personnel. Separate programs envisage their involvement in enterprises, state structures and industries related to technologies and unmanned systems.

Putin himself, back on August 10, spoke about the need to provide psychological rehabilitation and the opportunity to gain a new profession for military personnel returning from the front. The current statement differs in that the issue was directly raised in the context of a mass return of people after the end of hostilities and its impact on the labor market.

At the same time, Putin did not name possible deadlines for the end of the war, demobilization or the return of the bulk of Russian military personnel. Therefore, his statement alone does not indicate that the Kremlin has made a decision on an early end to hostilities.