Military pay for families of foreign service members missing under special circumstances
Ukrainian original: Грошове забезпечення сім’ям військовослужбовців-іноземців зниклих безвісти за особливих обставин. Short link: https://legalaid.wiki/index.php/Legion-missing-en
Legal framework
- Law of Ukraine "On the Legal Status of Persons Missing under Special Circumstances"
- Law of Ukraine "On the Social and Legal Protection of Service Members and Their Families"
- Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine Resolution No. 884 of 30 November 2016 approving the procedure for paying the military pay and allowances of service members who have been captured or taken hostage, interned in neutral states, or gone missing
- 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
General information
The Law of Ukraine "On the Social and Legal Protection of Service Members and Their Families" applies to foreign and stateless service members in matters of military pay and allowances, leave, medical care and medical services (Article 3(3)).
Military pay and allowances continue to be payable in respect of foreign service members who are missing.
Who can apply for payment?
A foreign service member may make a personal instruction, in writing and in free form, specifying the person or persons to receive their military pay and allowances if they go missing and each person's percentage share.
If there is no personal instruction, payment is made as follows:
| No. | Eligible persons | Share of military pay and allowances | Distribution | Conditions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spouse | No more than 50% in total | Equal shares among all eligible persons in this group | Only if there is no personal instruction, subject to statutory exceptions, particularly concerning persons receiving maintenance from the service member and parents whose parental rights have been removed and not restored. The 50% limit is shared by the eligible persons in rows 1-4, not a separate 50% entitlement for each row. |
| 2 | Legal representatives of children under 18 | No more than 50% in total | Equal shares | |
| 3 | Children with a disability originating in childhood, regardless of age, or their legal representatives | No more than 50% in total | Equal shares | |
| 4 | The service member's parents | No more than 50% in total | Equal shares | |
| 5 | Adult children | No more than 20% in total | Equal shares | Only if there is neither a personal instruction nor any of the persons in rows 1-4. The 20% limit is shared by the eligible persons in rows 5-6. |
| 6 | Siblings for whom the service member is the legal representative | No more than 20% in total | Equal shares |
Payment continues until:
- the circumstances of the disappearance have been fully established;
- release from captivity, or a court decision recognising the person as missing or declaring them dead.
In every case, payment continues no later than the date on which the service member is removed from the military unit's personnel rolls (Article 9(6) of the Law on social and legal protection).
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 package and a power of attorney to a representative in Ukraine, such as a relative, lawyer or other trusted person, who completes the procedures on their behalf.
Attach the following to the application for payment of military pay and allowances:
- A copy of the foreigner's passport or the stateless person's identity document, permanent or temporary residence permit, refugee certificate or another document confirming lawful stay in Ukraine;
- a copy of the document confirming the applicant's registration in the State Register of Individual Taxpayers (taxpayer card);
- a copy of the marriage certificate, for payment to a spouse;
- a copy of the child's birth certificate, for payment to the legal representative of a child under 18;
- copies of documents confirming, as applicable:
- appointment as guardian or custodian of the service member's child under 18, or adoption of that child;
- appointment of the service member as guardian or custodian of adult children or siblings, or their adoption;
- establishment of disability, for payment to children with a disability originating in childhood, regardless of age, or to their legal representatives;
- a copy of the service member's birth certificate or an extract from the State Register of Civil Status Acts recording their birth, for payment to parents;
- a copy of the court judgment restoring parental rights, for parents who had been deprived of those rights in respect of the service member;
- a copy of the death certificate of a person entitled to payment, if available, for recalculating the shares;
- the bank's name and current account number in IBAN format for payment to the designated person.
Important: Documents issued by authorised foreign authorities must be legalised in the prescribed manner (apostilled or certified by a Ukrainian consulate). Foreign-language documents must have a Ukrainian translation certified in the prescribed manner. If translated in Ukraine, the accuracy of the translation or the translator's signature must be notarised.
The application is addressed to the commander or head of the military unit, institution or organisation. It may be submitted on paper in person or by post, or electronically, where technically possible, by email or through information and communication systems.
According to the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, the application and documents may also be submitted through any conveniently located Territorial Recruitment and Social Support Centre (TCR and SSC; Ukrainian: ТЦК та СП).
The centre combines the documents into a PDF file, signs it electronically and sends it to the military unit through the electronic document management system (СЕДО) (paragraph 3 of the procedure approved by Cabinet Resolution No. 884 of 30 November 2016).
The applicant must be notified in writing of the decision to grant or refuse payment within 15 calendar days of submitting the application. A refusal must state its grounds.
When can payment be refused?
The commander or head of the military unit, institution or organisation refuses payment if:
- the application is made by a person who is not entitled to payment, or by a designated person who holds or has acquired Russian or Belarusian citizenship, permanently resides in either country, or has been convicted of high treason, collaborationist activity or aiding the aggressor state;
- the documents required by paragraph 3 of the procedure have not all been submitted;
- it is established in the prescribed manner that the service member surrendered voluntarily, left the military unit, institution, organisation or place of service without authorisation, or deserted (paragraph 4 of the procedure approved by Cabinet Resolution No. 884 of 30 November 2016).
Related article: Lump-sum death benefit for families and parents of foreign service members.
