The President was accompanied by Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, State Secretary – Deputy Defence Minister and Chair of the Defenders of the Fatherland Foundation Anna Tsivileva, and Olga Chebneva, the widow of Hero of Russia Sergei Chebnev, with whom the President met separately in the Kremlin before visiting the centre. Comments were also provided by Head of the Belgorod branch of the Defenders of the Fatherland Foundation Anna Kocherova.
Vladimir Putin toured the centre’s initial reception area, a recreation area and an adaptation area – a demonstration and training space for patients with mobility issues, including full-scale models of a residential building entrance, a flat, and urban environment.
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The Centre opened on March 1, 2023. Since July 2023, it has been operating as the capital's branch of the Defenders of the Fatherland Foundation. The Centre provides comprehensive targeted support to veterans and active participants in the special military operation, including mobilised personnel, volunteers, contractors, civilian specialists working in the combat zone, as well as their families in a one-stop-shop mode, and implements a programme for returning veterans to civilian life after they complete their service. It employs psychologists and psychotherapists, lawyers, social coordinators, rehabilitation, adaptation, socialisation, career development and employment specialists, as well as SMO veterans who have completed their service.
The Centre is open six days a week (closed on Monday) from 9 am to 9 pm. Two buildings with a total area of 5,000 sq m are connected by a passage. All premises have a barrier-free environment.
The first building provides legal and psychological assistance, with a career development and employment zone, and an adaptation zone.
The second building is a recreation space, where veterans can communicate with their comrades-in-arms, and take part in cultural or sporting events. There is a multi-purpose gym, an exercise room, a music lounge and a creative arts workshop. There are a mother-and-child room and a playroom for families with children.
To provide effective assistance to SMO participants and their families, the Centre has built a strong interagency cooperation. Officials from the city departments of education and science, housing and utilities, labour and social protection, integrated service centres, and employment centre, as well as other services and agencies are available every day which makes it possible to promptly resolve all arising issues.
The most effective mechanisms for supporting veterans and SMO participants tested by the Moscow branch of the Defenders of the Fatherland Foundation are replicated in other regions of the country. The Foundation’s branches are open in all 89 constituent entities of the Federation and employ over 3,800 specialists, including about 1,000 veterans and their relatives.