Such a benefit is granted to holders of the Resident of Leningrad under Siege badge who have disabilities. In October of last year, the honorary status started to be awarded to those who survived the siege of the Northern Capital during the Great Patriotic War under a simplified procedure, without accounting the duration of their stay in the besieged city. Thanks to that, even more individuals became entitled to various benefits, including more than a thousand war veterans for whom the Social Fund assigned an additional pension.
The required work was done proactively in cooperation with the St. Petersburg Committee for Social Policy. The Social Fund branches individually assigned the payouts based on the committee's records on certificates issued to complement the Resident of Leningrad under Siege badges. In addition to the age-related insurance pensions, government disability pensions were granted. As a result, the holders of the honorary status did not have to apply anywhere separately.
Apart from the second pension, those who lived through the hardest years of the siege during the Great Patriotic War are also entitled today to a monthly cash payout in accordance with the Federal Law on Veterans and additional monthly allowance provided under a presidential decree.
Factoring in all payouts provided by the Social Fund, the average income of residents of besieged Leningrad as of last October exceeded RUB 59,000. The adjustments in 2025 increased the veterans' payouts by nearly RUB 7,000. This January, the siege survivors' insurance pensions were also adjusted. In addition, veterans can expect their social monthly allowance to go up in February.
Remember that January 18 marks the Day of the Breaking of the Siege of Leningrad in Russia. The siege lasted 872 days, from September 8, 1941, to January 27, 1944, and became one of the most horrific Nazi crimes during World War II. According to various sources, between 600,000 and 1.5 million city residents perished during the siege.