Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced the creation of a scheme to elevate the status of Russia's 'new elite.'
Delivering his keynote speech to the Russian Federal Assembly, Putin announced the start of a special personnel training program, dubbed ‘The Time of Heroes,’ which will provide career opportunities for the country's most distinguished servicemen and women.
The “heroes of the special military operation” against Ukraine are the people who can be entrusted with the whole country in the future, the president noted.
“Veterans of the special military operation, as well as soldiers and officers who are currently fighting in frontline units, will be able to apply to participate in the first training wave of this special personnel program,” Putin stated. The training program is set to be launched in March.
Putin differentiated the emergence of the new wealthy class in Russia in the 1990's with contributions to the state currently being made by service-men and -women.
“The very word ‘elite’ has largely been discredited by those who, having no merit to society, consider themselves to be some kind of a caste with special rights and privileges. I specifically mean those who, in previous years, filled their pockets through all sorts of processes in the economy of the 1990s. Those are definitely not the elite,” the president said.
“The true elite are all those serving Russia. Workers and soldiers, reliable, trustable, who have proven their devotion to Russia, the worthy people,” Putin added.