Six of the 11 lawmakers appointed to the new State Duma Committee on Youth Policy have experience taking part in Russia’s war against Ukraine, according to an analysis by Novaya Gazeta Europe.
That is the highest share of war veterans among committees in the ninth convocation of Russia’s lower house of parliament.
The publication identified 56 lawmakers with wartime experience, or about 12.4% of the State Duma’s total membership. They were assigned to 26 of the chamber’s 34 committees.
Six war veterans also joined the Defense Committee, but because that committee has 15 members, their proportion there is lower than on the Youth Policy Committee.
At the same time, none of the 56 lawmakers identified by the publication joined the powerful Budget and Taxes Committee. Nor are they represented on the Financial Markets or Energy committees and several other major economic bodies.
Political scientist Ekaterina Schulmann told Novaya Gazeta Europe that the concentration of war veterans on the Youth Policy Committee may indicate an effort by the Russian authorities to make greater use of military themes in their work with younger people.
Several lawmakers assigned to the committee were involved in military-patriotic projects before entering parliament. Vladislav Golovin, known by the call sign Struna, previously became head of the Yunarmiya military-patriotic youth movement, while Alexander Amelin leads the central headquarters of the Young Guard of United Russia.