Clarification of legislation on social and legal protection of ATO participants

The Poltava Regional Military Commissariat provides clarification of the legislation on social and legal protection of ATO participants, so that relatives of servicemen participating in the anti-terrorist operation can more easily understand the issues of social guarantees and necessary documents for granting the status of a participant in ATO combat operations.

Therefore, participants in the ATO hostilities are entitled to benefits provided for by the legislation "On Social and Legal Protection of Military Personnel and Members of Their Families."

The following basic benefits are established for all categories of military personnel:

priority service in medical and preventive institutions, pharmacies and priority hospitalization;
priority free dental prosthetics;
free qualified medical care in military medical healthcare institutions, and in their absence or in urgent cases, medical care is provided by state or municipal healthcare institutions at the expense of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, other military formations and law enforcement agencies established in accordance with the laws of Ukraine;
free provision of sanatorium and resort treatment to military personnel and their family members (except for military personnel on conscription) in sanatoriums, rest homes, boarding houses and tourist bases. The same right is enjoyed by family members of military personnel who died (died) or went missing during military service. Such family members include: parents, spouse, minor children, as well as children disabled since childhood (regardless of their age);
free travel by rail, air, water and road (except taxi) transport on business trips, vacations within Ukraine, upon transfer to a new place of military service or in connection with the relocation of a military unit together with family members (except for family members of conscripts) and transportation of luggage to the place of residence chosen upon discharge from military service within Ukraine;
cash assistance upon discharge from military service and in other cases provided for by law;
Family members of military personnel who are serving in the military during a special period are guaranteed the payment of financial support to these military personnel in the event that they are unable to receive it while participating in hostilities and operations. In such a case, financial support is paid to family members of military personnel;
one-time cash benefit in the event of death in the amount of 500 times the subsistence minimum, disability or partial loss of working capacity without establishing disability;
military formations whose servicemen died or died during military service provide their families and parents with assistance in conducting funerals and compensate for material costs for funeral services and the construction of monuments in the amounts established by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine;
The time spent by citizens of Ukraine in military service is counted towards their insurance experience, length of service in their specialty, and length of civil service;
guaranteed preservation of the place of work, position, average earnings at the enterprise, institution, organization, regardless of subordination and forms of ownership, while simultaneously receiving financial support for the serviceman;
pension provision after discharge from military service on the grounds and in cases provided for by the Law of Ukraine;
Monetary and other types of benefits shall be maintained for servicemen captured or held hostage, as well as interned in neutral states or missing. The families of the said servicemen shall be paid monthly monetary benefits, including additional and other types of monetary benefits, in the amounts established for the serviceman on the day of his capture or held hostage, interned in neutral states or missing;
priority provision of living space for persons in need of improved housing conditions, priority allocation of land plots for individual housing construction, priority repair of residential buildings and apartments of these persons and provision of them with fuel;
reinstatement of students in the relevant higher education institution after demobilization and continuation of their free education for the period remaining until the end of the next period of study and paid for in advance by them before conscription.

Benefits are received by all war veterans who participated in hostilities, and it does not matter whether they are volunteer, peacekeeping, or MIA battalions. Currently, there are 44 battalions in the ATO zone. And most of them are volunteer.

To avoid problems with documents for obtaining the status of a combatant, the Cabinet of Ministers has determined the list of documents required to grant combatant status to military personnel who participated in the anti-terrorist operation.

In accordance with the resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine "On Approval of the Procedure for Granting the Status of a Participant of Combat Actions to Persons Who Defended the Independence, Sovereignty and Territorial Integrity of Ukraine and Directly Participated in the Anti-Terrorist Operation and Ensuring Its Conduct", to grant the status of a participant of combat actions to military personnel (reservists, conscripts) and employees of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, commanders (chiefs) of military units (bodies, subdivisions) or other heads of institutions and establishments shall submit for consideration by the commission of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine on the determination of participants of combat actions the following documents within a month after the completion of the tasks of the anti-terrorist operation in the areas where it was conducted:

a certificate of direct participation of the person in the anti-terrorist operation, ensuring its implementation and protecting the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine;
extracts from orders for the combat unit on departure/arrival from/to the military unit after completing the tasks of the anti-terrorist operation;
copies of business trip certificates;
a list of servicemen of military unit A0000 of the Armed Forces of Ukraine who defended the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and took direct part in the anti-terrorist operation, ensuring its conduct, being directly in the areas of the anti-terrorist operation.

All copies of documents must be certified by the signature of the commander (chief) of the military unit (body, subdivision)/institution/establishment and sealed with a government seal.

Participants in the anti-terrorist operation who have been discharged from military service submit documents through the commissions of regional military commissariats and the city military commissariat of Kyiv.

The Commission of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine on the identification of combatants studies the documents and sends them for consideration to the interdepartmental commission on the consideration of materials on the recognition of combatants, and in the absence of grounds confirmed by documents, returns them to military units (bodies, subdivisions), institutions, and establishments for further refinement.

In addition, servicemen (reservists, conscripts) and employees of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the National Guard of Ukraine, the Security Service of Ukraine, the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine, the State Border Service of Ukraine, privates, commanding officers, servicemen, employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, the State Guard Department of Ukraine, the State Service for Special Communications and Information Protection of Ukraine, other military formations formed in accordance with the laws of Ukraine, who defended the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and took a direct part in the anti-terrorist operation, ensuring its conduct, being directly in the areas of the anti-terrorist operation, as well as employees of enterprises, institutions, organizations that were involved and took a direct part in the anti-terrorist operation in the areas of its conduct in accordance with the procedure established by law, are recognized as participants in hostilities (clause 19, part one of article 6 of the Law of Ukraine "On the Status of War Veterans, Guarantees of Their Social Protection").

The procedure for granting the status of a combatant to persons who defended the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and took direct part in the anti-terrorist operation and ensured its conduct is determined by the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated August 20, 2014 No. 413.

After receiving the status of a participant in hostilities, the above-mentioned category of military personnel (reservists, conscripts) and employees will have benefits provided for by the Law of Ukraine "On the Status of War Veterans, Guarantees of Their Social Protection."

The Poltava Regional Military Commissariat implements all social assistance measures for military personnel who served in the ATO zone and are entitled to the above-mentioned benefits.

To obtain a land plot, ATO participants must submit an application to the relevant executive authority or local government.

The package of documents that an ATO participant must bring:

– passport;

– identification code;

– copying (copy of the land plot map) location of the land plot;

– a certificate confirming the person's participation in the ATO.

If the family of a deceased ATO participant is dealing with the land issue, there must be a certificate from the military registration and enlistment office stating that the deceased actually participated in the anti-terrorist operation. Otherwise, the land is provided on an equal basis with everyone else.

Deputy Head of the Department for
Work with Personnel and the Public
of the Poltava Regional Military Commissariat major S.S.Shkurupiy