Participants in the special military operation and their families visited sports and fitness centers as part of the regional project "SVOy FOK".

      10 November 2025 19:51 Sport Participants of the SVO and their families became guests of the physical culture and wellness complexes of the Nizhny Novgorod Region as part of the regional project "SVOy FOK." "Open Days" were held at nine physical culture and wellness complexes in the region, to which combat veterans living in nearby municipalities, as well as SVO participants, their wives and children, were invited. More than 500 people from 18 municipalities of the region took part in the events in total.

      Motivational talks were organized in the FOKs for combat veterans and SVO participants with participants of the "Heroes. Nizhny Novgorod Region" program, Nikolai Shadrin and Igor Markeev, who are already actively involved in sports.

      The FOKs prepared separate programs for the families of SVO fighters. Wives had the opportunity to attend introductory fitness, table tennis and other sports sessions, and children tried their hand at meeting GTO standards and at sports master classes.

      The meetings concluded with tours of the physical culture and wellness complexes to acquaint project participants with the sports infrastructure of the facilities and their clubs. In the future the "SVOy FOK" project will be continued at other sports facilities in the region.

      "We are carrying out systematic work to involve combat veterans and SVO participants in an active lifestyle. More than 2,000 of our heroes already engage in physical culture and sports on a regular basis, and their number grows every month. The region has several sports teams formed from SVO participants: in sled hockey, amputee football, and sitting volleyball. Many of our heroes choose swimming, water polo, armwrestling, powerlifting and other sports. In order for each of them, including family members of SVO participants, to be able to choose a sport they like and practice it for free near their home, we are implementing a number of regional projects," said Dmitry Kabaylo, Minister of Sport of the Nizhny Novgorod Region.

      Recall that since 2025, on the instructions of President Vladimir Putin, the state program "Development of Physical Culture and Sport" (state program "Sport of Russia") has been in effect in Russia, which performs tasks previously envisaged in the federal project "Sport — the norm of life" of the national project "Demography."

      An interactive "map of opportunities" has been created in the Nizhny Novgorod Region, marking all the FOKs in the region that provide free access for SVO participants and veterans, as well as their family members. The map will be supplemented with other venues in the future. Overall coordination of the project is carried out by the Center for Adaptive Sports "Parus" in Dzerzhinsk. You can get a consultation and choose a suitable sport by calling the hotline: +7 920 005 54 69 (https://sport.nobl.ru/documents/active/305786/).

      Together with the regional branch of the state fund "Defenders of the Fatherland," sporting events are held for SVO participants, including the "Defenders of the Fatherland Cup" of the Volga Federal District. Support is also provided to sports teams when traveling to similar competitions in other regions of the country, which contributes to the exchange of experience and the improvement of athletes' preparedness.

      Under a tripartite agreement between the ministry, the fund and a network of Nizhny Novgorod fitness clubs, SVO participants were given the opportunity to attend training sessions free of charge at some clubs in Nizhny Novgorod and Dzerzhinsk. More than 300 of the 500 annual memberships provided are already in use.

      Other private sports organizations in the region are also actively joining the involvement of SVO participants in sports. As part of the "Sila sporta SVOim" project, commercial sports clubs provide social hours for free training sessions for this category of residents. The first to attend training sessions were participants of the "Heroes. Nizhny Novgorod Region" program, who tried a sport new to them — padel tennis. The project envisions organizing sporting activities in other sports in the future.

      As reported earlier, the state program "Sport of Russia" is aimed at creating and improving conditions for physical activity, popularizing mass sports and improving the quality of life and satisfaction of Russians. It plans to expand sports infrastructure, hold mass sporting events, and involve residents in meeting the standards of the All-Russian physical culture and sports complex "Ready for Labor and Defense." Child sports development will continue across the country and opportunities for veterans of the SVO to engage in sports will be expanded.

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