Families of deceased military personnel may be left without status and benefits: Cabinet urged to change law

In Ukraine, it is proposed to change the legislation so that the families of military personnel with the status of a participant in hostilities do not lose the right to social protection due to the wording of the cause of death in the documents. The corresponding petition is registered on the website of the Cabinet of Ministers.

The author of the appeal, Olena Fabrika, calls for the elimination of the legal conflict due to which the families of individual deceased military personnel may not receive the status of a member of the family of a deceased (deceased) Defender of Ukraine and the benefits associated with it.

These are cases when a military person had the status of a participant in hostilities or received state awards, but the cause of death in the documents was determined by a wording such as “death related to service”.

According to the author of the petition, due to such wording, families may be denied the appropriate status and social guarantees.

What is proposed to be changed

The author of the petition calls for amendments to Articles 10 and 10¹ of the Law of Ukraine No. 3551-XII.

In particular, it is proposed to provide for the automatic granting of the appropriate status to the family if the serviceman who died or perished during service or treatment had the status of a military medical officer or state awards.

At the same time, it is proposed not to make the family’s right to status dependent on the specific wording of the conclusion of the military medical commission.

The initiative also provides that to confirm the family’s right, the military medical officer’s certificate, documents on state awards and a certificate of death during service or treatment should be taken into account.

Separately, it is proposed to guarantee such families the right to a one-time cash benefit and a full package of social benefits.

How many votes did the petition receive

The petition was registered on August 26, 2026.

As of September 24, it had collected 1,374 signatures out of the 25,000 required for it to be considered by the government. At that time, there were 63 days left until the vote count was completed.

The initiative remains a proposal set out in an electronic petition: the corresponding changes to the legislation have not yet entered into force.