Russia’s Supreme Court has received its first lawsuit challenging a law that restricts benefits for the unmarried partners of fallen Russian soldiers, the Russian business daily Kommersant reported.

The suit was filed by Alexandra Tokareva against the State Duma and the Federation Council. She is challenging a provision that allows the partners of fallen soldiers to claim benefits and payments only if they had a child together, lived together for more than three years, and had that cohabitation confirmed by a court. The lawsuit was filed in late April and assigned to a judge on May 8.

The suit argues that the amendments narrow the grounds for establishing that a couple lived together and ran a shared household. Before the law passed, Tokareva said, it had been possible “at the level of Russia’s constituent entities” to support the partners of fallen soldiers who had no children.

The new provisions, in the plaintiff’s view, violate the principle of equality before the law and conflict with the Constitution. She is asking Russia’s Supreme Court to strike down the established criteria and require the State Duma to introduce corresponding amendments.

Other women are preparing similar lawsuits, Kommersant notes. More than 450 partners of fallen soldiers have joined the initiative group demanding that the law be changed.

Ulyana Trokhina, one of the initiative group’s representatives, said the group had deliberately turned to Russia’s Supreme Court because lower courts had refused to grant Alexandra Tokareva’s demands.

“That’s why we decided to file an administrative lawsuit with Russia’s Supreme Court. After that, of course, there will be the Constitutional Court. As the girls receive rejection rulings, we will appeal the federal law each time,” Trokhina said.

Nina Ostanina, chair of the State Duma’s committee on family protection and a member of Russia’s Communist Party (KPRF), said she sees no need to expand the criteria. According to her, the State Duma had been focused on social support measures for children. On the question of partners of fallen soldiers, she added:

There are a great many life situations in which it turns out there are several common-law wives. And in that case, there is no regulatory document that would determine which common-law wife has the priority right to receive social guarantees.

The State Duma passed the law in July 2025, limiting payments and benefits to partners of fallen soldiers who had lived with them for at least three years and had children together. The original plan had been to support women who had not entered into an official marriage with soldiers but had run a shared household or had children together.