State Policy on Afghan War Veterans and Families of Fallen Servicemen in Ukrainian SSR in the 1980s (on Materials of State Archives of Dnipropetrovsk and Chernihiv Regions)

Keywords: CPU Regional Committee, state policy, social welfare, Afghan War Veterans, families of the fallen

Abstract

The facts of the Soviet state policy of the 1980s on Afghan War Veterans and the families of fallen servicemen are analyzed in the paper, relying on party materials of the State Archives of Dnipropetrovsk and Chernihiv Regions (Oblasts).

Certain attention is paid to the regulation of such state policy components as improving living conditions (allocation of housing, assistance in housing and utility constructions redecoration for Afghan War Veterans with disabilities and families of fallen servicemen), installation of telephones in apartments, different types of social welfare (medical, pension system, organizing patronage over Afghan War Veterans with disabilities and family members of fallen servicemen), providing social and household assistance, trade, communal and general service, assistance in employment and entering the educational establishments, well-timed making, and installation of tombstones for fallen servicemen and officers, perpetuation of their memory, promoting the so-called ‘internationalism’ of demobilized servicemen.

A number of shortcomings in the implementation of state support for the studied groups of the society in the field are revealed. In particular, sometimes there was a formal and bureaucratic approach to work with Afghan War Veterans and the families of fallen servicemen, and failure to establish a proper system of work with the mentioned groups. There were problems in the spheres of trade, communal and general service of these groups. Sometimes there were cases of improper organization of patronage provided by labor collectives, Komsomol organizations over Afghan War Veterans with disabilities and families of fallen servicemen, as well as insufficient involvement of Afghan War Veterans in ‘military and patriotic’ education of youth, the improper perpetuation of the memory of fallen servicemen.

Archival sources contain important material for studying the issues of state support for Afghan War Veterans and families of fallen servicemen in the 1980s. Newfound sources are expected to contribute to a more thorough study of the issue and will be used by scholars in further study of the outlined issues.

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Ostrovyk, D. (2020). Sotsialne zabezpechennia voiniv-«afhantsiv» i simei zahyblykh viiskovosluzhbovtsiv v Ukraini u 1980-kh rr. [Social Welfare for Afghan War Veterans and Families of Fallen Servicemen in Ukraine in the 1980s]. Eminak: naukovyi shchokvartalnyk, 3 (31), 165-175 [in Ukrainian].

Published
13.01.2021
How to Cite
Ostrovyk, D. (2021). State Policy on Afghan War Veterans and Families of Fallen Servicemen in Ukrainian SSR in the 1980s (on Materials of State Archives of Dnipropetrovsk and Chernihiv Regions). Eminak: Scientific Quarterly Journal, (4(32), 132-142. https://doi.org/10.33782/eminak2020.4(32).471
Section
History of Ukraine