Putin orders direct health care for the homeless

Medical aid must be provided with or without an ID or a registered address, according to the president

Russian President Vladimir Putin has tasked the government with providing homeless people across Russia with free medical assistance, regardless of whether they have documents confirming their identity or registered address.

The deadline set for the directive is July 1, 2025. Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin has been handed the responsibility for implementing the task.

According to the document, published by Kremlin on Friday, the Russian government must “update medical care procedures and standards,” allowing for relevant assistance to be provided to citizens “without a fixed place of residence at their location.”

The document highlights that if the homeless lack a registered address, identity documents, a mandatory health insurance policy or an individual insurance account number, this must not become a barrier to them getting medical care.

In December, Putin pledged that the Russian Health Ministry would develop a mechanism for providing medical care to the homeless and those who have lost their documents. The president said that people who lack a place to stay constitute the most vulnerable category of those in need.

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“We are obligated to help people who have found themselves in such a difficult life situation – if, of course, we ourselves are truly human,” Putin said, speaking during a meeting of the Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights.

Putin also said that the authorities would allocate 25% of the budget within the following three years to social services. He highlighted that it was appropriate to “talk not about expenses, but about investments,” adding that by allocating funds for salaries and pensions, healthcare, education, culture, and sports, the country is investing in human capital, in the preservation of people in the long run.