Overview

• In a first reading on September 16, the State Duma approved a bill to add stepchildren of SVO participants to the categories eligible for special-quota university admission.
• The draft also proposes free entry to university preparatory departments and priority enrollment in secondary vocational programs regardless of school results for these stepchildren.
• Specific quotas, documentation requirements, and procedures are to be determined in subsequent readings and accompanying regulations.
• United Russia leader Dmitry Medvedev called for granting widows of SVO fighters free admission to universities and colleges within defined quotas.
• Medvedev also urged free travel to and from military‑medical commissions for all participants and pressed for passage this autumn of a bill offering veterans a free second secondary vocational education.