Defenders with a diploma: Russia will have a new personnel program for its fighters
The system of secondary vocational education in Russia is gaining popularity — today 63% of ninth grade graduates choose colleges, and the average competition has reached three people per place. At a meeting with the government on November 5, Vladimir Putin assessed the development of the country's human resources base and the large-scale renovation of the military-industrial complex infrastructure. The Head of State also proposed to create a separate personnel program for special operations soldiers who do not have higher education — by analogy with the "Time of Heroes". Then the participants of the meeting discussed how artificial intelligence helps the authorities to maintain feedback with the population of the country. For example, the Gigachat neural network has already processed over 3 million questions to the Direct Line with the president, and round-the-clock AI operators are replacing answering machines.
The popularity of colleges
Colleges have become the main engine of personnel training for the Russian economy, and the secondary vocational education system is experiencing a real boom in popularity, Education Minister Sergei Kravtsov said at a meeting that Vladimir Putin held with members of the government on November 5.
— Four million students are currently studying in the vocational education system. These data are comparable to the results in the RSFSR. Let me remind you that in 2019, we had three million college students. That is, in fact, the contingent has increased by a quarter in six years — this once again underlines the interest of the guys in mastering working specialties," said the head of the Ministry of Education.
The turn of young people towards practical specialties is also confirmed by the figures of the final admission campaign: the annual intake increased from 900,000 to 1.4 million people, and the average competition jumped to three applications per place. In 2026, 63% of ninth-grade graduates and 12% of eleventh-graders opted for vocational education. The average score of the applicants' certificate confidently stands at "four", and in key areas — for example, IT, aircraft engine manufacturing, chemical technology — reaches a maximum of 4.9 points.
The increasing interest of schoolchildren in secondary vocational education encourages the development of its infrastructure. On November 5, the president launched the work of new facilities. Nizhny Novgorod has launched the second federal technopark in the country (after Kaluga) for the training of industrial training masters. An underground training ground at the Rasvumchorrsky mine in the Murmansk region and a new building of the Saransk Electromechanical College have also started operating.
The President suggested extending the approach to vocational training to those who defend the country. The Head of State noted that only fighters with higher education can participate in the popular personnel program "Time of Heroes" today, and preference is given to candidates with experience in organizational and administrative work. At the same time, there are many participants in the fighting who have not graduated from university, Vladimir Putin stressed and instructed the presidential administration and the government to develop a separate training program for them.
The State Duma agreed with the presidential initiative. The project will cause a huge response among veterans of the SVO, since many fighters come from small towns and villages, where there was not always an opportunity to get a higher education, said Ekaterina Stenyakina, deputy of the State Duma. Moreover, large companies and state corporations will readily provide vacancies for specialists of various profiles, she said.
Soft loans and gold in Baku
Vladimir Putin discussed other issues with the government, from large—scale investments in the regions to sports triumphs and seasonal prevention.
Russian President Vladimir Putin holds a videoconference meeting with members of the Government of the Russian Federation
The head of the Ministry of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov reported on the success of treasury loans. The government provides them to the regions for 15 years at 3% per annum for the modernization of housing and communal services, the development of projects in the Far East and the Arctic. The demand for support exceeded the limit by 2.5 times, and the return is impressive: for every government ruble, businesses attract 13 rubles of private funds.
The regions will receive 88 billion rubles at 3% per annum for the development of SEZs and resorts. For example, engineering networks will be built in the Tyumen region for a year-round resort with thermal springs "Pearl of Siberia", designed for 1.2 million tourists per year. In Adygea, the necessary infrastructure will be created for the Deguakskaya Polyana tourist and recreational park, where up to 1 million visitors per year are expected. Given the high effectiveness of the tool, Reshetnikov asked the president to extend the program further.
The conversation turned from the regional economy to the unique personnel working in extreme conditions and their achievements. The head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, Alexander Kurenkov, spoke about the performance of Russian rescuers at the World Championship in fire and rescue sports in Baku. All members of the Russian national team are active employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation. At the climbing ladder competitions, the men took all three prizes, while the women took gold and bronze. But the main thing is that unlike most other sports, Russian rescuers officially perform in Baku under the national flag and anthem. Vladimir Putin supported the team's success and spoke harshly about political pressure on the rest of Russian sports.
— There are ongoing not legal, but politicized restrictions on Russian sports. This is a clear gross violation of the law, court decisions, and, consequently, the institutions of democracy themselves. This is exactly how it should be interpreted," the president said, calling on the Russian Olympic Committee to continue defending the rights of our athletes.
The topic of physical fitness was continued by the discussion of the epidemiological situation in the country. The head of the Ministry of Health, Mikhail Murashko, spoke about the progress of flu vaccination (35.5 million people have already been vaccinated), noting that there has not yet been an active surge in the incidence, although the first cases with complications are already being recorded. Against this background, the President asked if the members of the government themselves had been vaccinated, but Murashko tried to refer to medical secrecy.
— You evaded a direct answer. Mikhail Albertovich, we need members of the government to get vaccinated too. I'm not being ironic, I'm serious," Vladimir Putin summed up, adding that he himself had a domestic vaccination a couple of weeks ago and underwent it without interrupting sports training.
The work of neural networks
Concluding the meeting, Vladimir Putin moved on to work with citizens' appeals. Mikhail Kuznetsov, head of the Executive Committee of the Popular Front, spoke about the results of processing a record amount — over 3.2 million questions received by the direct line in 2025. Thanks to digital channels and partnership with Sberbank, most of the appeals have already been reviewed, with a third of the issues resolved positively, and the citizen satisfaction index has increased. System solutions have been adopted based on the most sensitive requests: benefits for large families have been expanded, access to medical devices has been simplified, and the volume of telephone fraud has decreased by more than 40%.
Gigachat's AI Assistant
Artificial intelligence played a key role in processing a huge amount of data. The head of the Savings Bank, German Gref, said that thanks to the neural network "Gigachat", each of the 3 million requests was read before the start of the broadcast. AI helped to instantly identify 6 thousand cases requiring immediate intervention — from emergency operations to the urgent relocation of people from emergency housing in the cold — as well as to group systemic problems for the prompt response of ministries.
This year, the technology is being taken to a new level: instead of not very convenient answering machines, AI operators are being launched that can receive calls around the clock, listen to people and automatically send structured requests to responsible departments. Vladimir Putin thanked the Popular Front and the BEAC team for this large-scale work, stressing that there is always real help for a specific person behind the dry figures of the reports.
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