Worrying discussions are circulating about potential intentions within the Russian authorities to introduce drastic changes to the country's fundamental law – the Constitution. Particular attention is drawn to potential amendments to Article 39, which currently serves as the bedrock of social protection for citizens, guaranteeing their right to pension benefits due to old age, illness, disability, or loss of a breadwinner. If such guarantees were to be removed, it would signify a radical overhaul of the state's social commitments.
The financial implications of such a move are staggering. Preliminary estimates suggest that abandoning or significantly reducing pension payments could allow the Russian budget to save approximately 80 billion US dollars annually. Well-founded assumptions are emerging that these colossal funds could be redirected to cover the escalating costs associated with waging war. To grasp the scale, just one of the recent massive attacks on Ukrainian territory is roughly estimated to have cost the Russian treasury around 500 million US dollars.
Such a reformatting of state priorities, where military needs are placed above the social welfare of its own citizens, would attest to a profound transformation in the Kremlin's domestic policy. For ordinary Russians, the elimination of constitutional pension guarantees, enshrined in Article 39, could translate into a future fraught with uncertainty and material hardship, especially for the elderly and other vulnerable population groups. This outlines a scenario where the right to a dignified old age might be sacrificed for military ambitions, effectively compelling citizens to pay for the war with their own social security. Such a potential constitutional reform could permanently alter the very nature of the relationship between the state and its people.
