Being wounded at the front does not terminate a servicemember’s entitlement to financial support. Moreover, if the injury, concussion or mutilation is related to the defense of the homeland, the servicemember is entitled to additional remuneration of 100,000 hryvnias per month during inpatient treatment. However, several bureaucratic links remain between the provision of the law and the actual crediting of the funds. It is at these stages that payments may be delayed for weeks or months.
What to do if such a situation occurs — UNN explains.
What a wounded servicemember should receive
Under the current rules, during treatment following a combat injury, a servicemember retains their basic financial support. In addition, 100,000 hryvnias per month is paid for the period of inpatient treatment in Ukraine or abroad, as well as for the period of transfer between medical facilities. The Ministry of Defense notes that this payment may be maintained for 12 months of continuous treatment.
If, after inpatient treatment, a servicemember needs leave for treatment, the 100,000-hryvnia payment is retained in the event of a serious injury, which must be confirmed by a Military Medical Commission (MMC) conclusion. The certificate describing the circumstances of the injury, known as Form No. 5, is also of fundamental importance for assigning the payment. It must state that the injury is related to the defense of the homeland. Information about the injury and treatment must reach the military unit, and the servicemember must be included in the relevant order on the payment in order to receive the funds from the state.
At the same time, not every treatment following an injury gives the right to precisely 100,000 hryvnias. The decisive factor is the established connection between the injury and the defense of the homeland. If there is no such connection and the servicemember is not entitled to another larger additional remuneration, an additional payment of 10,000 hryvnias may be retained during treatment starting in 2026.
Where and why payment delays arise
The documentary stage remains one of the most vulnerable points in the process of receiving financial payments. The 2025 annual report of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights states that, during the year, 855 appeals were received concerning possible violations of the right of servicemembers and their family members to financial support. The applicants included wounded servicemembers who were undergoing inpatient treatment or were on leave following a serious injury.
The Ombudsman, for their part, lists the following among the prerequisites for delayed payments:
- prolonged processing by military units of certificates describing the circumstances of injuries;
- delays in the issuance of MMC resolutions;
- failure to comply with the established procedure for exchanging documents between hospitals, military units, and Territorial Recruitment and Social Support Centers.
The Ombudsman’s report cites a telling case. It concerns a servicemember who suffered a serious injury. They underwent treatment for a long time, but starting in January 2025, the defender’s monthly financial support was discontinued, while the additional 100,000 hryvnias were not accrued throughout the entire treatment period. Following the Ombudsman’s intervention, the servicemember was included in the order of the unit commander concerning the payment of financial support and additional remuneration for the relevant period.
Why payment documents should be transferred without the wounded servicemember’s involvement
Formally, the servicemember should not have to take on a significant portion of this bureaucracy. A government procedure for the electronic exchange of medical and other documents between hospitals, military units, and Territorial Recruitment and Social Support Centers has been in effect since 2023. In particular, a healthcare facility must notify the military unit within one day of a servicemember’s hospitalization or discharge. Among other documents, certificates describing the circumstances of injuries, MMC resolutions, and extracts from medical records are transferred through the electronic document management system. The military unit must also process the documents received and forward the necessary papers according to the established procedure.
In practice, as evidenced by appeals to the Ombudsman, this mechanism does not always work smoothly. If a military unit did not receive information about the hospitalization, delayed processing Form No. 5, or the necessary documents did not reach the unit responsible for processing the payments, a service member may effectively be left without the funds due to them, although the right to those funds itself is not lost.
Form No. 5 is one of the key documents
The certificate describing the circumstances of the injury is important when undergoing a Military Medical Commission (MMC) examination, assessing a person’s daily functioning, and processing a one-time cash benefit. It records the place, time, and circumstances in which the injury was sustained. These data subsequently make it possible to establish the connection between the injury and the defense of the Homeland or the performance of military service duties. However, the situation may develop paradoxically: a service member has an obvious injury, is in hospital, and has medical documents, but for the special payment to be granted, this is not enough until the administrative part confirming the circumstances of the injury has been completed.
The 100,000 payment to an injured service member and the one-time benefit: what is the difference
It is important to distinguish between the monthly remuneration paid during treatment and the one-time cash benefit, the right to which may arise as a result of the consequences of an injury.
A one-time benefit is granted, in particular, if a service member is diagnosed with a disability as a result of an injury or loses their ability to work. In 2026, if the disability is related to the defense of the Homeland or the performance of military service duties, the amount of this benefit is UAH 1 million 331.2 thousand for Group I, UAH 998.4 thousand for Group II, and UAH 832 thousand for Group III.
If no disability is established but an expert team determines the percentage of loss of working capacity, the amount of the benefit is calculated proportionally to that percentage. For mobilized personnel and contract servicemen in 2026, the calculation base is 70 subsistence minimums, or UAH 232,960. For example, if a 20% loss of working capacity is established, the payment amounts to UAH 46,592.
To process the one-time cash benefit, the decision of the expert team assessing daily functioning, the MMC ruling on the causal connection, and a document describing the circumstances of the injury are required. Thus, problems with processing documents immediately after an injury may affect both payments during hospitalization and the receipt of the benefit after treatment has ended.
What to do if the money does not arrive
If a service member is undergoing treatment after an injury but is not receiving the remuneration due to them, they should first determine whether the certificate describing the circumstances of the injury has been issued, whether it has been forwarded to the military unit, and whether the service member has been included in the order authorizing the payment. Appeals to the military unit should preferably be documented in writing or submitted in the form of a report. If the problem is not resolved, the right to the payment can be protected by applying to military administration bodies, the Ministry of Defense, the free legal aid system, the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, or through court proceedings.
The legislation provides both for the preservation of monetary support and for a special remuneration during the treatment of wounded personnel. However, between the emergence of the right and the receipt of funds lies an administrative chain involving medical documents, conclusions, information exchange, and commanders’ orders. If any link in this chain fails, a service member may be forced, alongside undergoing treatment, to seek the money that the state has already guaranteed them by law.
Reminder
The Cabinet of Ministers is redistributing UAH 33.6 billion for payments to military personnel and their families. UAH 25.9 billion will go toward support in September, and UAH 7.7 billion — toward assistance.