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Council Chairman Valery Fadeyev delivered the keynote report on its performance. In their remarks, Council members addressed issues such as assistance for participants in the special military operation and their families, the rehabilitation and employment of veterans who have sustained the most serious injuries and become disabled, the work of jury trials, and the granting of pardons to certain categories of individuals with disabilities and women with children ahead of the New Year holidays. They also discussed palliative care, the resettlement of compatriots to Russia, the relationship between art and the state, as well as matters related to the implementation of artificial intelligence in various fields, the use of electric bicycles and scooters on city streets, and much more.

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Excerpts from the transcript of the meeting of the Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Colleagues, good afternoon.

We are holding this meeting on the eve of Human Rights Day. Of course, this is a date that matters not only for this Council, but for the Russian society in general, and for those who have been serving this important and relevant cause in the regions, as well as at the federal level.

I would like to thank you and your colleagues, I am referring to human rights commissioners, volunteers and activists from NGOs, for remaining in touch with people at all times and for catering to their needs. You have been helping bring about not only punctual and responsive solutions to the challenges people face, but also devise system-wide solutions.

It is for this reason that people trust you and appreciate your efforts. I know that the mission you have is not easy. After all, people come to you with their grievances and their resentment, at a time of outrage or desperation. To hear what a person has to say, offer comfort and achieve justice and tangible results – all this requires a lot of patience and goodness. You and your colleagues have been up to this formidable task. Thank you very much for that.

The Council’s primary mission, as we have defined it quite a long time ago, consists of asserting social and economic rights of our people and developing the civil society. Today, our country has set forth its goals and performance indicators in national projects. This week, we had a detailed discussion with our colleagues from the Government and the regions on carrying out these projects.

I would like to reiterate that there are always people, their interests and needs, behind plans and figures. We must understand how specific outcomes as set forth on paper are felt in real life, and how it all works in reality, how efforts to fulfil our plans affect people and what bearing they have on the wellbeing of Russian families.

This public monitoring and control over national projects and the state’s overall socioeconomic policy are among the key objective for this Council.

In addition, I am certain that you will continue paying close attention to upholding the rights of special military operation participants and their families, those who lost their close ones, while also supporting combat veterans, helping them adapt and find their bearings as civilians.

Today, we will discuss what needs to be done for those taking part in the special military operation and the counter-terrorist operation, for our veterans.

A number of other serious issues are also on the agenda. These include social support for families with children, employment and rehabilitation for people with disabilities, improvements to the palliative care system, and the effectiveness and safety of modern technologies, including artificial intelligence.

It is important that the Council’s voice in defence of human rights remains persuasive and authoritative at the international level, and that you do not overlook the persecution of individuals on the basis of nationality, religion, language or other grounds.

I would also like to note the Council’s uncompromising stance in defending the interests of our compatriots abroad and its intolerance of Russophobia as a manifestation of nationalism and racism.

Your, sadly, late colleague Kirill Vyshinsky played a particularly significant role in this area. Thanks to his efforts, a number of legislative measures were adopted to ensure that those involved in unlawful actions against Russian citizens and compatriots abroad are brought to account.

Colleagues, our Council is, first and foremost, an advisory body. However, following your recommendations, a lot of practical measures have been undertaken which have a positive effect on the realisation of citizens’ rights.

For example, regarding combating telephone and internet fraud, you proposed a number of concrete solutions. These include blocking calls from unfriendly states when they are made for criminal purposes, introducing call labelling, and imposing stricter requirements on employees of government bodies, banks and telecommunications operators when communicating with customers.

All of these have been taken into account and are being implemented by the Government. As you know, the first package of measures to protect citizens in the digital environment has already been adopted. A second package has been developed and is now in the process of discussion and approval, and a third is planned for the near future. These measures are based, among other things, on your initiatives.

Furthermore, elections of State Duma deputies will be held in 2026. I am counting on your active participation in monitoring compliance with citizens’ electoral rights.

You have extensive experience in this field; and a permanent working group has been established for this purpose. Every year, during elections and votes at various levels, you visit at least ten regions and hundreds of polling stations. A report is published by the Council based on the monitoring results.

One of the Council’s systemic priorities is to support the non-profit sector. Following our discussions this year, the Presidential Grants Foundation has created an open data aggregator on the activities of non-profit organisations. Its aim is to increase transparency and trust in their work, as well as facilitate interaction between organisations and citizens. We will consider what additional steps need to be taken in this direction.

Let us get down to work.

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Vladimir Putin (Responding to Kribrum CEO Igor Ashmanov, who talked about challenges related to using artificial intelligence in the social sector, education and public administration, including when replacing officials with robots is used as a tool for shedding responsibility. As an example of serious risks associated with switching to a paperless document flow, Igor Ashmanov referred to a fire in the Republic of Korea which led to the unrecoverable loss of databases on public services and public sector employees.): Thank you very much, Mr Ashmanov.

This is an important and extremely challenging matter, as you have said in your remarks by highlighting some of its aspects. I think that even those who know little about these topics can understand this. After all, it is increasingly obvious that we need to address these issues, even if it remains to be seen how. In fact, rejecting the use of these tools would mean losing everything we treasure. We could lose it all unless we harness the potential of big data and everything that comes with it.

At the same time, if we use this technology carelessly, we risk losing everything we hold dear, including our identity. This could lead to the dispersion of big data, place it in the hands of those who might exploit this information for malicious purposes, to say the least.

Of course, the situation with education is also clear. We cannot afford to lose a whole generation of our young citizens who will simply press buttons instead of thinking critically or being able to solve basic equations in mathematics, physics and chemistry, or knowing their history well.

This is a formidable challenge. We must avoid a situation where we have about two dozen people forming a thinking elite and creating something, and the masses whose only skill would be to press a button. This is a very complex matter, and it is patently evident that we must address it.

Of course, the principles of using this technology matter in the decision-making process. Artificial intelligence may offer hints or prompts, and sometimes these suggestions can be even better than what a human can suggest. Better than a decision made by a human himself.

However, in this regard, I completely agree with you: specific individuals must assume liability for taking the final decision; simply stating that it was a prompt from artificial intelligence should not be accepted. Responsibility in the decision-making process must rest with specific individuals. This will require specialists to double-check, recalculate and review any decision. This is a matter of ensuring that people bear personal responsibility, especially regarding decisions which have a direct bearing on security and the way people live. You have mentioned an example… In Korea, or where did this fire happen? But even without a fire, there are many issues requiring a responsible approach to the decision-making process.

This is to say that all I can do is thank you, Mr Ashmanov. Please, submit your proposals as quickly as possible. Make no mistake, we will use them and involve you in our work to finalise decisions and draft laws and regulations.

Thank you very much.

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CEO of the White Internet autonomous non-profit organisation Elina Sidorenko: Mr President, I would like you to consider the following issue, if possible. Next year may be declared the Year of Unity of the Peoples of Russia at your initiative. There are over 270 spoken languages in Russia. Regrettably, these ethnic groups have no opportunity to develop their cultural and linguistic identities within AI-assisted language models. It would be appropriate and timely to create a system or launch a state programme for supporting national language models of the peoples of Russia, considering that no country in the world has implemented such models, especially in the context of the upcoming Year of Unity of the Peoples of Russia.

This would allow our children, who often use AI today, to further develop and support their cultural identity while requesting and receiving information in their native languages.

Thank you.

Vladimir Putin: Thank you.

Regarding the 270 languages, there may be more, as it is very difficult to accurately count them because of certain nuances. But your idea of using artificial intelligence to support language models seems to be very good. It is certainly important for us, regardless of the year you have mentioned, and it should certainly be done. First, in this diversity lies our strength, and second, when people know that they can do things in their own languages, the language of interethnic communication will be regarded differently, with pleasure and without any pressure, but because this is necessary for interethnic communication.

Overall, many relevant provisions have been enshrined in our Constitution. This is extremely important for our diverse country. In fact, this is important for all linguistically diverse countries. You know that I have recently visited India, where 1.5 billion – 1.5 billion! – people live. Only one third of them, 500 or possibly 600 million people, speak Hindi, while the rest speak a variety of languages. And they often do not understand each other.

Preserving unity in diversity is extremely important for large countries, for civilisational countries, such as India, which is a civilisational country in the direct sense of the word, as well as for Russia. Therefore, I support your idea, which we will certainly try to implement.

Thank you very much.

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Vladimir Putin (Responding to remarks by Komsomolskaya Pravda frontline reporter Alexander Kots, who detailed his work in the Kursk Region, which was attacked by the Ukrainian Armed Forces in 2024, highlighting the plight of civilians who finally saw the region’s liberation after being evacuated from areas of hostilities and losing their homes. He explained that to obtain certificates for purchasing new housing, officials must first inspect the condition of their original homes, which remain in areas that are still unsafe. Alexander Kots also mentioned an initiative put forward by Kursk Region Governor Alexander Khinshtein to use drones for conducting these inspections.): Thank you for raising this issue. It is indeed a pressing matter. When I speak with our military, including high-level commanders, they report finding many civilians in the combat zone as our troops enter towns and cities. When asked why they did not leave when they had the chance, their answer is very simple: “We were waiting for you. We were waiting for our troops, for the Russian troops.”

Naturally, we must do everything possible to help these people rebuild their homes. I can assure you that everything will be restored. The questions of how and how quickly are crucial. However, I think that the method suggested by Mr Khinshtein probably won’t work in every case, as a proper assessment requires assessing the structural integrity of building foundations, among other things.

That said, you are certainly right that in obvious cases – where buildings have been completely destroyed, which is most of them – we could potentially apply Alexander Khinshtein’s suggestion, using methods that have been implemented elsewhere. In any case, I give you my absolute promise: I will issue instructions to the corresponding services, as soon as today or tomorrow, to explore this possibility and report back. Not just the possibility in theory, but its practical applications for the Kursk Region.

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Thank you very much indeed. I want to thank you for our long-term collaboration throughout this past year, and for your invaluable work here today. I sincerely hope, and ask, that you will continue this work in the coming year.

Please accept my sincere greetings on the upcoming New Year.

All the best. Thank you.