Veteran Support Reform | Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine

Veteran Support Reform

This reform is aimed at protecting the rights of military veterans, improving their social security, healthcare, psychological rehabilitation, social and professional adaptation, honouring their memory and promoting their public image.

For the first time in Ukraine’s recent history, thousands of people, who never faced war and could not even imagine what it is like, had to take up arms and defend their country’s independence and territorial integrity.

Today, about 1.2 million persons in Ukraine have the veteran status, including nearly 400 thousand of Anti-Terrorist Operation / Joint Forces Operation veterans. Ukraine got new fighters for its sovereignty on the 23rd year of its independence. They are the Heavenly Hundred Heroes and people injured during the Revolution of Dignity who sacrificed their lives and health defending the European path of country’s development. They defended Ukraine’s right to the better future 6 years ago, and it is time for the state to protect their rights. Military veterans’ issues are currently dealt with by the newly created Ministry of Veterans Affairs of Ukraine. It was a great challenge for the country that did not have war in its territory. Nowadays, Ukrainian society is still learning to respect and honour the country’s defenders, and the state is building the veteran protection and socialisation system.

Key Results

The key priorities of the Ministry of Veterans Affairs have been defined in the programme of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine approved by Resolution No. 471 of the Cabinet of Ministers dated 12 June 2020, including:

Rehabilitation and bringing veterans back to a normal life.
Remembrance and respect.
Resocialisation.

These priorities will allow:

provision of sanatorium treatment, psychological rehabilitation, recovery of physical and mental health to more than 70 thousand military veterans;
payment of compensation for housing to more than 4.5 thousand military veterans;
rendering social and professional adaptation services, creating opportunities for personal development, employment and starting business for more than 20 thousand military veterans;
developing a comprehensive programme of the heroization of military veterans in society and formation their positive public image;
involving military veterans in school and out-of-school patriotic training of youth, in particular, through the professional development programme for teachers of respective school disciplines;
establishing and opening the National Military Memorial Cemetery, the Memorial in Glorious Memory of Defenders of Ukraine, using the unified ceremony to bury military veterans;
creating and launching the Unified State Register of Military Veterans and the E-Veteran service.

Why change anything?

The military veteran social security, healthcare, psychological rehabilitation and socialisation system currently needs improving.

The military veteran benefits and guarantees are provided by more than 18 central, local executive bodies and local governments resulting in a lack of accountability.

Military veteran benefits and guarantees are regulated by 156 pieces of legislation some of which do not have the implementation procedure and are unenforceable. This causes restriction of the military veterans’ rights and social security, and the regulatory overlap brings confusion rather than helps achieve the goals.

What does the reform include?

The military veteran support reform includes the use of a comprehensive strategy to improving social security of military veterans and introduction of new methods and practices to address their key issues.

The reform requires a strong vertical management system in social security of veterans to change public attitude to them over time and make it impossible to violate veterans’ rights without good cause.

The following steps should be taken to introduce this vertical management system:

defining the state policy principles in social security of military veterans;
improving strategic planning in social security of military veterans;
adequate coordination of work of state bodies and local governments associated with organisation and provision of benefits and services to military veterans.

Goals and Objectives

Hiring veterans into the civil service after they return to a peaceful life play an important role in their rehabilitation, so we will work to:

establish cooperation with the State Employment Service of Ukraine improving employment of military veterans in various sectors;
build the national veteran rehabilitation system. (First of all, we are seeking to improve the quality of psychological rehabilitation);
review and streamline assigning status and benefits to veterans through the automation of certain processes;
develop the programme to reintegrate veterans after release from prison. (To develop this program, we have created a focus group composed of the members of the Ministry of Veterans Affairs and the Ministry of Social Policy);
look for new opportunities and encourage the creation of jobs for military veterans (to sign an agreement with the joint representative body of Ukrainian employer associations).

By the end of the year, more than 500 veterans will get funding to purchase homes.

Including:

more than 260 participants of the Anti-Terrorist Operation having I—II-degree disability and families of servicemen killed during the ATO;
220 internally displaced Ukrainian families (whose members are war veterans or have III-degree disability related to their service in the Anti-Terrorist Operation / Joint Forces Operation);
6 families of participants of the Revolution of Dignity;
and 43 families of peacekeeping soldiers (with battle-related disabilities).