Lump-sum death benefit for families and parents of foreign service members

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Ukrainian original: Порядок отримання одноразової грошової допомоги членами сім’ї та батьками загиблого військовослужбовця-іноземця. Short link: https://legalaid.wiki/index.php/Legion-death-en

AI-assisted translation of the Ukrainian article; independent linguistic and legal review is still pending. Check the Ukrainian original and current legislation before applying.

Legal framework

• Law of Ukraine "On Military Duty and Military Service"
• Law of Ukraine "On the Social and Legal Protection of Service Members and Their Families"
• Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 168 of 28 February 2022 on certain payments to service members, rank-and-file and commanding personnel, police officers and their families during martial law
• Regulations on military service in the Armed Forces of Ukraine by foreigners and stateless persons, approved by Presidential Decree No. 248/2016 of 10 June 2016
• Ministry of Defence of Ukraine Order No. 45 of 25 January 2023 approving the procedure and conditions for awarding and paying lump-sum financial assistance following the death of Armed Forces of Ukraine service members during martial law
• Protocol for notifying the families of service members who have died, gone missing, been captured or taken hostage, or been interned in neutral states, approved by the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on 9 December 2024

General information

Lump-sum financial assistance following the death of a service member (referred to below as the death benefit; Ukrainian abbreviation: ОГД) is a state-guaranteed payment to persons entitled to it by law.

Under Ukrainian law, foreigners and stateless persons may lawfully serve under contract in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the State Special Transport Service and the National Guard of Ukraine.

The conditions and procedure for paying the death benefit applicable to Ukrainian service members and their families also apply to these service members.

The benefit is awarded if the service member died while performing military service duties (Article 21-4 of the Law "On Military Duty and Military Service"). Payment is made under the procedure and conditions established by the Law "On the Social and Legal Protection of Service Members and Their Families" (Article 41 of the Law "On Military Duty and Military Service").

Thus, if a foreigner or stateless person was serving in accordance with the law and died while performing military service duties, the general statutory provisions on awarding and paying the death benefit apply.

Under Article 16-2(3) of the Law "On the Social and Legal Protection of Service Members and Their Families", the lump-sum benefit for death while performing military service duties, including while in captivity (except for service members who surrendered voluntarily), is UAH 15 million.

Families of foreigners and stateless persons who lawfully served under contract in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the State Special Transport Service or the National Guard of Ukraine and died while performing military service duties are therefore entitled to the benefit on the conditions established for Ukrainian service members.

Who is entitled to the death benefit?

Family members of foreign service members who died while performing military service duties may apply for and receive the benefit, namely:

• Children, including adopted children, children conceived during the deceased's lifetime and born after their death, and children in respect of whom the deceased had been deprived of parental rights during their lifetime;
• the widow or widower;
• the deceased's parents or adoptive parents, provided they had not been deprived of parental rights in respect of the deceased, or those rights had been restored by the time of death;
• grandchildren, if their parents had died by the time of the service member's death;
• a woman or man who lived with the deceased as a family without being married to each other or to anyone else, provided this fact is established by a court judgment that has entered into legal force (Article 16-1 of the Law "On the Social and Legal Protection of Service Members and Their Families").

If the service member made a personal instruction during their lifetime specifying who should receive the benefit upon their death, payment is made to the persons named in the percentages specified in that instruction.

The service member gives the original instruction to their commander for inclusion and safekeeping in their personnel file: on the day of certification by the commander, or within 10 days of certification by a notary.

If there is no personal instruction, or it does not allocate the entire benefit, eligible family members are entitled to the benefit or the unallocated portion in equal shares.

Payment is not made to:

• citizens of Russia or Belarus, or persons permanently residing in those countries;
• persons convicted of high treason or collaboration with the aggressor state (paragraph 2 of Cabinet Resolution No. 168 of 28 February 2022).

Where to apply

For a member of the Armed Forces of Ukraine: apply to the district Territorial Recruitment and Social Support Centre (TCR and SSC; Ukrainian: ТЦК та СП).

These centres are authorised to accept documents from potential beneficiaries and prepare the documents required for awarding and paying the benefit (paragraph 3.1 of Section III of the procedure approved by Ministry of Defence Order No. 45 of 25 January 2023). They also prepare and submit, through the chain of authority, a report to the regional (Kyiv city) centre on their work to identify persons who may apply.

For a member of the National Guard of Ukraine: apply to the military unit in which the deceased served or to the Financial and Economic Directorate of the Main Directorate of the National Guard.

Documents to submit

Documents must be submitted in Ukraine.

Important: Before applying, the applicant must obtain a Ukrainian taxpayer identification number (РНОКПП) and open an account with a Ukrainian state-owned bank.

This can be done in either of the following ways:

• One family member travels to Ukraine with powers of attorney from the others, obtains notarised Ukrainian translations of all documents, submits the application and opens the bank account.
• The family sends the complete document package and a power of attorney to a representative in Ukraine, such as a relative, lawyer or another trusted person, who completes the procedures on their behalf.

Documents in a foreign language must be accompanied by a Ukrainian translation certified in the prescribed manner.

Submit the following to the TCR and SSC:

• An application (paragraph 1.7 of the procedure approved by Order No. 45 of 25 January 2023);
• the applicant's identity document (a certified copy is attached to the application);
• the service member's death certificate;
• the Military Medical Commission's (ВЛК) opinion on the causal link between the death and military service;
• a certificate describing the circumstances of the injury or death;
• proof of family relationship with the deceased under Article 16-1 of the Law on social and legal protection:
  • for a spouse: a marriage certificate;
  • for a child: the child's birth certificate;
  • for a parent: the deceased's birth certificate;
  • for a dependant: a document confirming dependency on the deceased.

Important: Proof of family relationship may include extracts or certificates from the relevant civil status register, migration register or similar information system, or documents issued by an authorised state, judicial or local authority of the service member's country of citizenship, origin, permanent residence, etc.

• Consent to the processing of personal data;
• a notarised waiver of a share of the benefit (certified at a Ukrainian consulate if the person waiving their share is abroad);
• a court judgment that has entered into legal force concerning the award of the benefit, if available (Annex 2 to the procedure approved by Order No. 45);
• a copy of the deceased's Ukrainian taxpayer identification number (РНОКПП);
• the Ukrainian bank account details in IBAN format.

When a foreign service member dies, the military unit commander:

• notifies the TCR and SSC at the place where the service member was accepted into service or recruited;
• facilitates notification of the relatives together with the department coordinating foreigners' military service at the headquarters of the Land Forces Command and the Main Directorate of Military Cooperation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (family notification protocol of 9 December 2024).

To process the death benefit, the military unit must provide the TCR and SSC with:

• the personal instruction;
• an extract from the unit commander's order removing the service member from the unit's personnel rolls because of their death;
• an extract from the service record in the personnel file showing the service member's family composition;
• a military pay certificate showing payment of the remuneration provided for in paragraph 1 of Cabinet Resolution No. 168 of 28 February 2022, or an extract from the order awarding that remuneration.

Important: Apply no later than 3 years after the date of death recorded in the death certificate.

Document review and payment procedure

1. The district (city) TCR and SSC accepts the required documents, certifies copies and forwards them to the competent regional (Kyiv city) centre within 7 working days after receiving all documents.
2. The regional (Kyiv city) centre reviews the documents and prepares an opinion on whether the benefit can be awarded to the family members, parents or dependants, and a report on the work to identify potential applicants.
3. The opinion, report and other documents are sent to the Department of Social Security through the Social Support Directorate.
4. The Department of Social Security asks the Personnel Centre of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to confirm that the deceased is classified as an irrecoverable combat loss during martial law.
5. After receiving confirmation, the Department informs the regional (Kyiv city) centre of the preliminary review results.
6. The regional (Kyiv city) centre checks compliance with current legislation and submits proposals to the Department. The Department processes the proposals within 3 working days.
7. The documents are then processed by the competent units of the Ministry of Defence and the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and submitted to the Ministry of Defence Commission.
8. Once the chief administrator of budget funds decides to award the benefit:
   • the Department of Social Security informs the Financial and Economic Directorate of the Land Forces Command within 3 working days;
   • that Directorate informs the regional (Kyiv city), district and city centres;
   • the Department prepares draft allocations of released budget appropriations in the order in which documents were received from the regional (Kyiv city) centres.
9. The district (city) centre that prepared the documents notifies the applicant of the decision.
10. The regional (Kyiv city) centre pays the benefit under the relevant order within 5 working days after budget appropriations are released, by transferring funds to the state-sector bank account specified in the beneficiary's application (Section IV of the procedure approved by Order No. 45 of 25 January 2023).

Related article: Military pay for families of foreign service members missing under special circumstances.