Uncertainty payments to missing soldiers

If a serviceman goes missing, all payments in the amount of official salary at the last place of service, salary according to military rank, as well as allowances for years of service and other types of financial support are kept for him. This means that family members of a military person have the right to receive such payments for missing persons on a monthly basis.

The team of the Prikhodko&Partners law office deals with similar client requests, as we specialize in the field of military law. So let’s talk in more detail about what legal guarantees families of missing persons have in the context of financial support from the state.

How does the legislation regulate the issue of such payments?

The first paragraph of Part 6 of Article 9 of the Law of Ukraine “On Social and Legal Protection of Servicemen and Members of Their Families” mentions both the basic financial support and the additional remuneration in the amount of 100,000 hryvnias per month. Also important legal acts that regulate this issue are:

1. “The procedure for payment of monetary support to the families of servicemen captured or held hostage, as well as interned in neutral states or missing”. The document was approved by Government Resolution № 884 of November 30, 2016;
2. Government Resolution № 168 of February 28, 2022, “Issues of certain payments to military personnel, rank and file officers, police officers and their families during martial law”.

It is also worth considering in more detail the procedure for receiving payments by the family.

How exactly are payments made and what is needed for this?

From the day a serviceman goes missing, his financial support is paid to family members based on their application, which is written in the name of the commander of the military unit. The following package of documents is attached to the application:

• copies of passport pages of adult family members;
• a certificate certifying the registration of the place of residence (it is required in the case when such information is not contained in the passport);
• a copy of the marriage certificate (if available), as well as copies of the birth certificates of children (also if available);
• a copy of the RNOKPP certificate.

The above-mentioned Resolution № 168 clearly established the right of military family members who went missing under special circumstances or were captured to receive additional compensation (this is about 100,000 hryvnias per month for the entire time until the status of the missing person is changed to another).

Such payments must be made monthly. The grounds for payments are the corresponding orders of the commanders. It is important to know that payments are made until the military is removed from the personnel list of the unit.

Are there situations when such payments are not provided for?

Yes, the current legislation records that payments are not provided for those soldiers who went to the SZCH (voluntarily leaving a part or place of service) or surrendered voluntarily. In all other cases, families have the right to appropriate financial support from the state. And although this does not reduce the level of stress when a loved one disappears or is captured, the family has at least certain guarantees from the Motherland, which was protected by a military serviceman.

How will our services be useful?

Lawyers of the Prikhodko&Partners law firm specialize in military law. So we help our clients in similar cases. We can provide the following categories of services:

• Consultancy. During the consultation, our specialists introduce clients to the key legal norms that are relevant precisely in regulating their situation. We tell you what the action algorithm should be and what to do in case of artificial complications with receiving payments.
• Legal support. By providing this category of services, we help with documentary issues as part of your request, as well as interact with those officials on whom the implementation of the decision you need depends. For example, sometimes it is much easier to get the necessary document if you submit a lawyer’s request. Also, this legal tool is effective in situations where, for example, it is necessary to find out for what reason the production of a particular certificate is being delayed, which happens quite often. The norms of the current legislation establish a rather short time frame within which a response to a lawyer’s request must be made. In this way, it is possible to speed up the resolution of important issues.
• Representation of interests in court. If other legal tools have not worked, representation in court becomes the effective means of influencing the situation, which helps to move the situation from a dead end.

Hence, our team provides quality military attorney services. In particular, this applies to the support of requests related to receiving payments for missing servicemen. Legal support often becomes a guarantee of defending the rights of the family of such a serviceman. Fill out the form on the website and our lawyer will contact you shortly.